When Words Meet Memories
by sammerzjean77
Summary: And before she knew it, he held her happily-ever-after in his fairytale. ..:SasuSaku:..
1. When Words Meet Memories

**New story!...I just had to start it...but I probably won't update a lot until I finish Dangerous Eternity.  
The full summary is posted on my page! Check it out!  
I may, or may not, rewrite or dink with this prologue a little bit.  
It will be high school set...  
Romance/friendship/comfort/blah blah...but it will be deep, and hopefully very cute.  
Sasuke- OOC...I'll try to keep that in check.  
Otherwise, I know this little chappy might be slow or boring but...I couldn't start out too strong.  
(P.s. the italics in quotations are like Sakura narrating to herself, or you...or whatever...you get it haha)  
And I'll be completely honest, you can't build too much of an idea of that the plot will be off this prologue...  
Unless you look deep, but that's hard. So just read the next chapter at least.****  
Please just give this a chance, and review to tell me your thoughts.  
It's so appreciated...like, you don't even know!  
And I have to be honest...  
I think this plot is amazing...if you liked my other two stories, I can guarantee...  
You will LOVE this.**

* * *

_**-**_

_**Chapter One:  
**  
When Words Meet Memories_

_-_

_"Hey love, is that the name you meant to have for me to call?"_

_-_

* * *

The light casted off her silver cross pendant like the sun's concentrated rays reflect off a lake's lucid waters. She ran her fingers over the emblem slowly as strands of her long, delicate, pink hair flowed over her shoulders and around her arms. It splayed a bit across the desk in front of her as she rested her right elbow on the surface of the wooden desk.

She glanced to her left longingly, staring out the window at the animated city just beyond the clear glass and cold walls. Her emerald eyes darkened with thought as the bell rang and people stood up, one after another, to exit the prison called high school. Gathering her things in her bag, she decided she was now old enough to ultimately make her own resolutions.

-

_"I guess in every way I'm your average high school student...the type that dreads waking up so early in the morning and would rather be bored than actually do any type of work. Meet me, Sakura Haruno...which, really, if you've met anybody else...you've met me. Or at least, have an idea of what I'm like. I attend Konoha Academy, a very prestigious school, if I do say so myself...and I'm in the 10th grade, a.k.a. my first year of high school. Maybe I give it too much thought, but I can't help but wonder if this year will be the same as the others. It's a bit embarrassing, but I have this feeling that high school could, and undoubtedly will, shape the person I desire to become."_

_-_

She passed through the door quickly, avoiding any eye contact. Though strong in her determination and unwaveringin her belief's that this year would be the best, she couldn't help but feel as if she were the only one with such hopes and wishes for the year as she passed numerous students in the endless halls.

-

_"I'm pretty normal, I guess. I can be bitchy and moody, but I'm a nice person. I get my homework done on time when I do it, but I don't always do the assignments. So then my grades aren't straight A's, either. I play volleyball, but I'm not a star athlete, and part of that is due to my nice little case of asthma--which actually doesn't even act up much, thank god. I suppose I have one talent, but I choose to keep that to myself. So about the only thing I have going for me is my looks...which is sad to say, because I'm not super pretty...but I've seen uglier...and I have a slightly larger forehead. Whatever. But...my personality isn't horrible either...so that's another plus. I live off music and read shoujo manga as if it were my life...and even when you put all these together...I have to say, I'm pretty normal."_

_-_

Her feet moved steadily as she maneuvered her way around the people crowding the hallway. Her pink hair swayed behind her as she kept her eyes peeled. Students clung to their lockers while teachers harshly fought their way through the chaos.

-

_"I know that high school is nothing more than a hell where males and females alike sit in desks all day long and acquire knowledge about pointless pieces of information. I know this because even though I'm the best at seeming optimistic in rather distasteful moments, I'm no different than the regular school girl. I obsess about looks and make-up, plan the weekend ahead, day dream about clothes and fairy tales, and want to fall in love. But honestly, the most common thing shared between me and every other person in this school, is the thought that high school absolutely sucks, and I'd rather be doing anything else but this."_

_-_

"Please tell me your first day was better than mine. I have, like, three classes with you, and only in one of those do I get to see the hottest boy in school, if he even _shows_." A blondwith deep accented, turquoise eyes and a slender figure approached Sakura from the right. Her long pale blonde hair was tied in a pony, creating a dazzling effect for her appearance.

"I have just one class withhim, too. He's only in creative writing with us. But count your blessings, because it's not like seniors and sophomores end up in the same classes all the time." Sakura replied in a matter-of-fact tone, keeping her eyesight directly in front of her.

"Yeah, but he wasn't even _there _today. I guess the rumors were true about him only rarely attending class." The blond sighed sullenly, falling into step beside Sakura.

-

_"This perky albeit dramatic belle beside me is Ino Yamanaka. She's my age, my height, super gorgeous, and plays volleyball withme. We've been friends since forever, but I can't remember a time when we didn't share a beloved childish rivalry. She's stubborn but sweet and has a bad temper...but it's not quite comparable to mine. Along withthat, she has a tendency to call me 'forehead', so I call her pig, which suits her very well. We, also, along with every other girl in this school, share the same pathetic crush on the same perfect boy."_

_-_

"Oh! Oh _god_, look! It's Shikamaru and Kiba! _He_has to be around here somewhere with that other annoying blond!" Inosquealed as quietly as possible, linking her arm with Sakura's. Though she had just noticed to other handsome boys, her thoughts never left that _one_. Both their eyes scanned the area by the two boys ahead of them making their way out of the building as well.

-

_"ShikamaruNara...the laziest boy I have ever met...is also rather close with Ino. They've been friends since they about twelve, and despite her constant denial, she's fond of his looks. And I personally don't blame her. He has cool grey eyes and dark hair that's almost always tied up into a pony tail...and he looks rather attractive in our black and white uniforms. I'm also very impressed that he wears the tie securely with all the buttons done. Not many guys around here do that."_

_-_

As Ino and Sakura passed Shikamaru and Kiba, Ino looked back and waved, catching the Nara boys' attention.

"Maybe you should walk faster. My grandma _runs _that speed." She playfully stuck her tongue out at him, causing Shikamaru to sigh and roll his eyes.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going, _sophomore_." Kiba called back, shooting Ino a cocky, I'm-better-than-you, grin.

-

_"Kiba Inuzuka...looks cute in our uniform too, I suppose. His short, yet scraggly, brown hair and crazy, lively eyes, make him one of the few very cute boys in this school. Yet, in all honesty, I can't say I know him...or Shikamaru...or the other ones I'm really dying to see more of. Especially this one boy."_

_-_

Ino snorted and broke the link between their arms. Sakuraglanced at her with an eyebrow perked as the blond smiled at her.

"Well, let's hope he's here tomorrow, then. I'll text you tonight. See ya, forehead!" And withthose dear parting words, they were both out the main doors and Ino was headed in the opposite direction of Sakura.

-

_"I'm also friends with this other girl named Tenten, who always wears her hair in two buns on either side of her head. She's more so close with the guys than the girls...but that's okay, because guess what? She's got a thing for Neji Hyuuga, another cute boy...who just happens to hang out with the guy I'm totally into. Oh, and my other good friend is Hinata Hyuuga, Neji's cousin...which is a super plus...because it's a nice excuse to talk to him. And lastly, Naruto Uzumaki...is probably my best friend. Like, ever...though I hate to admit it sometimes. He can be an airhead, obliviously rude, ill-mannered, immature, and a complete moron at times...but when it really matters...he's there for me, which rocks. And best of all about being close to Naruto Uzumaki...is that he's best friends--and when I say best friends, I mean that he is the one boy in this whole school, maybe the world, that spends over 90 of his time, and is closest with...Sasuke Uchiha."_

_-_

Sakura shifted her bag on her shoulder and started to walk home, running over the events and non-important occurrences of the first day of high school. In all reality, she was slightly bummed that she didn't get to see Sasuke in her creative writing class...but that was okay, because there was always tomorrow.

-

_"Dark, long, spiky...perfect raven hair...mysterious and ominous eyes that could cut away at my sanity if they ever caught my own. Tall with not tan, but not pale skin. Built, but not too bulky. Not horribly skinny. Perfection. That is the beauty of Sasuke Uchiha..."_

_-_

Sakura inwardly laughed at herself as after a half hour walk, she reached her humble abode.

-

_"At least...that's what I thought a while back. Now, he's still cool...and sexy, and everything a girl wants. And I'm no exception from his unparalleled ability to create attraction...but I'm a lotmore tame about it. I won't stare at him anymore, and he doesn't constantly plague my thoughts. He interests me, but he isn't quite the world. Yet...I really wish I could meet him, face to face...word for word. Because I've talked to him maybe five times in my life. But the conversation has never gone longer than ten minutes...and it's never been about anything important or deep or even intriguing. I've never been alone withhim...always with Naruto. He's never smiled at me, and he's never gone out of his way to talk to me. He probably doesn't even know my last name. But that's okay..."_

_-_

She walked clumsily up to her room, accidentally slammed the door, tossed herself onto her bed, and sighed dreamily into her pillow.

-

_"You could describe Sasuke Uchiha as the boy...who never attends class. And nobody knows why. Maybe he's just not dedicated to school? He doesn't play sports...but manages to have a social life and go out with his friends on weekends. He's the boy who never sits up straight in class...doesn't pay attention but still gets good grades...has a completely emotionless face...only talks to his few close friends...wears his tie looser than even the average high school boy with his top two buttons undone...and can get any girl he wants, just by a few simple words. Sasuke Uchiha smirks when he's right, or when he's being a smart-ass, or having a conversation with a pal. His actual smile would be adorable...one he'd use when he really felt emotion...like when he'd smile at a girl. Sasuke Uchiha never grins, or talks unnecessarily. He's calm, collected, mature, quiet, mysterious, and keeps to himself."_

_-_

She felt her sense's drifting into a drunken state, realizing she pulled an all nighter the night before.

-

_"But I guess...I don't know him. This is pure observation. But I can honestly say...I've had a huge crush on Sasuke Uchiha...since I was twelve. I'm sixteen now...matured... secretly very smart...totally into music like it was my life...obsessed with shoujo manga...and most of all...a fan of fairy tales. I'm an innocent believer, who's never really met a tainted realist...so I've never met opposition in my fantasies...like I've never fallen in love..."_

_-_

And just like that, he was about to hold her happily-ever-after in his fairytale.

* * *

_Next Chapter_

_She, The Innocent Believer_


	2. She, The Innocent Believer

**So, I'm finding myself super into this story.  
I realize this chapter is also maybe a bit slow but...I do believe it will be awesome when I really get into it.  
Also, I'm suspecting it to be 15-20 chapters. Not too incredibly long.  
Anywho...review...praise me! Criticize me! I don't care.  
Just let me know you're reading.**

* * *

-

_**Chapter Two:**_

_She, The Innocent Believer_

_-_

_"And I know this much is true, baby, you, have become my addiction. I'm so strung out on you."_

_-_

* * *

She exhaled deeply, drawing tiny hearts and scant circles in her notebook. She had her head resting in the palm of her right hand with her elbow so lazily propped up on her desk.

"Day two of no Sasuke Uchiha. It really makes you wonder what he does with all his time."

Tenten, the brunette with dark innocent eyes and a bedevil personality, turned in her desk to look back at a melancholy Sakura. Unluckily for her, her seat was right behind Tenten.

"I agree. I hate school as much as the next person, but I think I'd get bored if I didn't attend class." Sakura replied sullenly, putting down her pencil and closing her notebook. Her bored eyes rested on the cover that was colored in pink and brown stripes.

"I think I get bored when I _do _attend class. Still, he wasn't here on the first day of school, nor today. It's actually strange." Tenten received a nod from Sakura, and then turned her gaze to a blond boy in the desk across from her, right aisle to her and Sakura. "You know where he is, though, don't you?"

After a moment, the blond brought his arms down from behind his head and turned his head slightly to stare at Tenten with a bored, uncaring expression.

"I do, yeah." His jaded answer.

Sakura looked up at him and and narrowed her eyes a bit while a, now annoyed, Tenten quirked her eyebrow at him.

"Where?"

A trice of silence passed, as if to create unneeded suspense.

"Home, clearly. Maybe _you _should stop worrying so much about where Sasuke is."

As Tenten narrowed her eyes dangerously at the blond, Sakura rolled hers and removed her head from her hand, resting both arms on her desk in a casual manner.

"Maybe _you _should just turn around and pretend like she never asked." Sakura uttered pertly.

The blonde shot Sakura a devilish grin, now turning in his desk to face the narrow aisle, and the two entertaining girls.

"Sakura, you don't have to be so _mean_."

"Naruto, you don't have to be so _stupid_."

The smile vanished from Naruto's face as Tenten released an exasperated sigh. "Come to think of it, you weren't here yesterday either. Where were you?"

Naruto's eyes met Tenten's. "Didn't feel like coming, so I went and hung out with Sasuke."

The statement poked at Sakura's jealousy. Why was Naruto so damn lucky that he and Sasuke could _hang out?_ It was just sickeningly unethical.

Tenten snorted, making Naruto's eye twitch. "He's not so high that he can't attend class, you know. Honestly, he isn't that amazing." She turned to look at a wide-eyed Sakura, who was now staring at the brunette as if she were completely naked. "I don't know what you see in him."

"The same thing every girl in this school does." Twisting her face into one of satisfaction, Sakura spoke firmly, earning an eye roll from Tenten.

"Not _every _girl. I don't see what you see. I think he's anti-social, and he could possibly be one of the quietest boys I know."

"He's not the _quietest_." Naruto interrupted the conversation, causing Tenten to raise her eyebrows at him and purse her lips. "You just don't know him like I do."

"I talked to him once. Remember? You were there. We were at Neji's, waiting for him to grab your stupid cd's, when I asked him what he thought of sports, considering he wasn't in any." Tenten hissed as if to prove a point. Sakura leaned in, pretending she was indulged in a romantic fairytale.

"Yeah, he said he didn't care for them, and then as if you thought he _actually _could pretend to be interested, you asked him randomly what his opinion was on if you should join volleyball or not."

"But you don't like volleyball." Sakura spat instantly after Naruto's sentence, only to have her words be waved away by Tenten.

"I thought about joining at the time, _okay_? I told him it would be good exercise. But whatever...his reply was that it was none of his concern, and the way he said it was just so-"

"Sasuke-like." Naruto finished for her, like the answer was obvious. Tenten's face screwed into something dangerous and violent.

"Sure, call it that. And so," She turned her gaze to Sakura, who tilted her head in interest, making strands of her silky hair fall into her face. "I called him an ass and told him he was probably the most obnoxious and conceited guy I had ever known."

Sakura's eyes widened and she couldn't help but smile a bit at Tenten's unnecessary comment. Meanwhile, Naruto snickered beside them.

"Yeah, and then he said if you were looking for exercise, you should just get a boyfriend." His grin illuminated. "And the timing was so perfect, Sakura! You should have been there! Neji walked out of the house right at that moment. Tenten was so embarrassed."

Sakura bit down lightly on her finger to try and stop herself from smiling.

Tenten, on the other hand, sighed and pushed back part of her bangs. "So basically-"

"So basically he was implying that you're a whore." Sakura mumbled through her almost closed lips. Tenten glanced at her, giving her a hurt visage.

"See? He's cruel, Sakura."

"Nah, he didn't mean to call you a whore. He just meant you should have sex a lot." Waving his hand, Naruto's words rang a bit too loudly in the class room, earning a few unlovely looks from other students. Both Sakura and Tenten stared at him as if to point out he was a ridiculous moron.

After that, the bell rang, almost instantly pulling students from their seats to leave school for the day and indulge themselves in their oh-so-amazing social lives. Really, Sakura didn't mind that creative writing was the last class of the day. It was almost perfect. She didn't mind the teacher, Kureni-sensei, and she liked the class. She had always been poetic and in her spare time she'd attempt to throw together deep-sounding words as lyrics for imaginary songs. So this class was possibly the best one of the day...with the help of the notion that Sasuke was in that class as well.

Not that he had bothered to show up yet.

* * *

So another day passed...long and boring...and here she sat...staring at the desk to her right. Empty...begging for life.

There was about three minutes until the bell rang, and students flooded in slowly, eyeing the teacher sitting at the overly big desk. Kurenai-sensai has announced yesterday that she wouldn't be there, and that they'd be having a substitute...which Sakura didn't mind all that much. It meant a study hall. But yet...their substitute, Kakashi-sensei, was also her math teacher. She hated having any teacher for more than one period. It could wear out a person's fragile nerves.

Ino sat a row to Sakura's left, up four seats, right in the front. Tenten sat directly in front of her...Naruto, one row to her right, one seat up from the empty one directly across from Sakura...and Hinata sat across from Naruto, to his right. So everybody was scattered across the room, leaving Sakura unable to be choosy about her friends for the class. But that was okay...because the seat to her right was empty...

...Because Sasuke was suppose to sit there.

_If he ever freaking comes!_

Sakura groaned, mindlessly flipping through the pages of one of her shoujo manga. Her eyes were glued to his empty seat, and her curiosity was absolutely _killing _her. Where the hell was he?! She just wanted to see him _once_, for god's sake.

"Yo, Sakura!"

Thrown from her inner ranting, Sakura glanced over at Ino, who was holding her phone up on the side of her body so Kakashi-sensei couldn't quite see it. Her lips slowly formed the words 'get your phone and we can text', and after a minute of processing the soundless words, Sakura nodded and stood up, unconsciously taking the shoujo manga with her as she approached her teacher's desk.

"Kakashi-sensei, could I run to my locker really fast?" She asked sweetly, eyeing her sensei that was absorbed in some book.

"Two minutes." He replied calmly, not bothering to remove his eyes from his novel.

Sakura bowed and quickly dashed for the door, going much faster than needed. She exited the room and as she took the corner, she felt herself crash into something.

No, someone.

Someone tall and sturdy...more than likely a male, because as she fell to the floor, dropping her manga in front of her, she couldn't help but tell through squinted eyes that the figure had only stumbled back slightly.

She heard him groan as she closed her eyes due to pain and whimpered to herself. On the fall, she had so stealthily managed to land on her knee's to avoid spreading her legs and miniskirt to the whole hallway.

The boy in front of her bent down slowly and picked up her manga book, eyeing it rather curiously. After a moment, he tucked it under his left arm and held out his right, slouching over just slightly.

And after the throbbing in her knee's had died down, Sakura sluggishly peeled her eyes open. She had half a mind to shout, and then decided it best to apologize. After all, she was the moron who took off so quickly out of the class room. But she found her senses failing her as she slowly took in the stranger in front of her.

Firs,t she spotted his shoes, neatly laced and shiny...and then trailed her eyes up his long legs, baggy black pants suiting his slender, yet muscular figure...and her eyes finally made their way up to his white button-up shirt, untucked...top two buttons undone with the black tie looser than normal...

And eyes that caught her own in a dream-like trance...so dark and mysterious...attractive and captivating. She glanced at his outstreched hand, thinking to herself how pitiful she must look, gawking at him like he was a god. But she wanted so much to grab his hand...just to...touch him.

He shook his hand roughly. "You want help or not?"

It was then as she heard the bite in his voice and noticed the agitation in his face, that she blushed and took in the situation she was actually in.

Here she was, flat on her ass...just after running into Sasuke Uchiha. And _literally_.

Wow, dearest irony. Thank you, humiliation. Thou are thy best of friends.

_That's the last time I obsess over wanting to see him. Clearly the moral here is to be careful what you wish for._

She parted her lips to say something, preferable an apology, but nothing came out except quiet stutters and sharp, shaky breathes. Her eyes met his once more, and he raised his eyebrows, debating on if he really needed to be gentleman-like and hold his hand out. She wasn't even taking it!

But when she heard footsteps behind her, and a gasp...she quickly grabbed his hand and he heaved her up onto her own two feet.

"Th-thank you." Was her nervous reply.

"Hn."

And then, the bell rang.

"Well, well, well. You finally decided to show up for class."

After brushing off her black skirt, Sakura turned her body to the side, glancing over her shoulder to find Kakashi-sensei and Ino, who's hands were now covering her mouth in complete awe, standing by the door. Kakashi rested his hand on Ino's back and gently, yet hastily, motioned her inside. She obediently entered the class room, never moving her astounded eyes from Sasuke until the door frame cut off her vision.

Sakura swallowed hard feeling fidgety and nervous. This was like one of those moments you seen off a poorly directed high school drama...and Sakura couldn't help but feel uneasy, yet totally amused with the situation.

"This would be tardy number...?"

She shot Kakashi an innocent albeit guilty look...one only somebody like her could manage. "Kakashi-sensei, it was my fault. I ran-"

"-Three."

She felt something hit her chest as his suave voice interrupted her soft one. Her manga...and Sasuke, handing it..._obnoxiously_...to her. She quickly took hold of it, avoiding his eyes as he then walked past her. He ignored Kakashi as well, walking right past him into the room.

Sakura just stared at his back, feeling somewhat numb and oblivious to the dumbfound look on her countenance. Yes, she had wanted to see him. No, she hadn't wanted it to be like this. Did he think she was a loser now?

"Sakura?"

She jumped, nodding at her sensei. "Y-yes?"

"Class?" He gestured her in, and after a moment of staring at him in a daze, she shook off her embarrassment and stepped into the class room. Right away, she glanced over to Sasuke's seat. He was placing a notebook on his desk and was in mid-motion to sit down when Kakashi called out to him.

"Well, considering everybody has introduced themself, except _you_-"

Kakashi stepped behind Sakura, who was now very, _very _slowly taking steps across the front of the class room. She couldn't help but notice all the eyes glued on him. Not one person had failed to notice his attendance.

Sasuke halted before he was about to sit in the chair, rolled his eyes, and stood up straight, staring at Kakashi with the most tiresome expression Sakura had ever seen. And it was absolutely gorgeous. His calm expression...the way his fake-superior aura just _emanated _from his graceful features. _So _hot.

"Why don't you do that." Kakashi finished, now sitting in his chair. At this point, Sakura had reached her desk, placing her manga booklet on the table and sitting herself down quietly. Her eyes never left Sasuke's face.

"Third year, Sasuke Uchiha." Was his derisive reply. He felt there was nothing more he really needed to say. Finally, he sat down in his desk, ignoring the giddy whispers and giggles of all the girls in the classroom.

Naruto turned around in his desk to shoot Sasuke a cheery grin. Sasuke, in response, narrowed his eyes, resting his right hand on his left shoulder. He slowly moved his shoulder in tiny circles as if in pain, inducing Naruto to acknowledge it.

"I was totally sure you wouldn't come until tomorrow. Oh well. What happened?" The blond inquired queerly, watching him test out his shoulder.

Sasuke brought his arm back down onto his desk and his dark eyes met Naruto's deep blue ones. "Ran into some girl."

Naruto's eyes broadened as Sasuke glanced over his left shoulder at Sakura, who had her head down on her desk, hair splayed everywhere...inwardly cursing herself for the previous confrontation with Sasuke.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked him, earning a nod in reply.

"If that's her name." He then turned his gaze to the front of the class room, and after a brief mischievous chuckle, Naruto did the same.

All the while, Sakura had faintly heard their conversation, and increased her inner self-mutilation.

Could that have possibly been any worse?

* * *

"And that's basically all of it. Take my advice. Don't run out of classrooms at full speed."

_"Well, forehead, at the very least...I'm sure you made a lasting impression."_

"Don't remind me."

_"Oh, it'll be okay. Even though I'm sure it was utterly humiliating...I'm still jealous! Not only did you meet him, but you totally got to touch him. Like, all of him."_

"You really are a pig."

Sakura was sitting at her desk in her spacious room. It was more so her sanctuary than anything else. She was on the phone with Ino, explaining what had happened during the last period of school. Due to utter humiliation, Sakura had taken off right after school at top speed and never had a chance to vent to Ino about it.

_"I'm just saying. He's totally gorgeous. Just like Sai!"_

Sai, Ino's number one crush, is almost an identical match to Sasuke. There are minor differences, but Sakura's vote had to go to Sasuke. No doubt. Anyway, Sai's a senior too, only he transfered last year to a different school three hours away from Konoha academy, so nobody really sees him anymore.

"Well, whatever. Who really cares? I'm doomed to marry Naruto, anyway."

_"Hey, hey! Not a chance. You know Hinata's had that super huge crush on him since the sixth grade!"_

"Oh, right. I forgot. It's not like that's going anywhere."

_"Maybe she needs a little push..."_

"No meddling. You have your own relationships to work on. Like Sai? You're not exactly dating-"

_"-Yet, Sakura. Yet."_

Sakura let out a small laugh, commending Ino on her playful determination. Due to boredom, Sakura was arranging her 'imaginary song lyrics', or better referred to as scrap poetry, into alphabetic order by title. Really, she had nothing better to do with her time than pretend she was a songwriter and make-up compositions of words, except right now...she wasn't feeling too inspired.

"Sure, yeah. Whatever you say. I'll call you later, alright? I'm totally tired."

_"Another all-nighter?"_

"Almost. I fit in three hours of sleep. I'm improving."

_"Oh, that's healthy. Alright, call me."_

"Yep."

Then the phone was hung up, and before she could even take another breath, she was outstretched on her bed, holding onto her pillow tightly.

_Damn it. Damn it. Damn it! Why did I have to run into him like that?! Ahh! What if he thinks I'm a loser now? That would be just great! He'd rank me with Naruto!_

She reached for her manga on her desk and once she had it, she flipped it open and took in the clever drawings and picturesque words. Why couldn't Sakura have a knight in shining armour come and rescue her from this mortification?!

_Calm down, Sakura. Maybe it's not so incredibly bad. You can redeem yourself._

Stranded. That was the name of the shoujo manga she was currently reading. It was in it's 7th volume, the booklet she had now was the last one. It was a story about a girl who was searching for her true love all throughout high school, because she wanted to get married right after she graduated, but she was never able to feel something truly deep with any of the boys she had kissed. The poor girl ended up graduating and going to a university with her best friend, who happened to be a guy, and she found that maybe she didn't need to rush the perfect thing.

Sakura wasn't quite finished with it but she could almost guess how it would end. The girl would end up falling in love with her best friend and they'd live happily ever after. The end, right?

She let a bored sigh, closing the book, and her eyes.

She could finish it another day...right now, she just felt so incredibly sleepy.

* * *

"Nope, it doesn't ring a bell. Sorry."

Sakura snatched the picture from Tenten's hands and groaned, causing the brunette to wave her hands in front of her in apology. She then turned to her right and placed the picture in Ino's hands.

A minute or so passed.

_Come on. Come on. Come on!_

"I've looked at this about a trillion and two times, Sakura. The answer's the same. I can't recognize this girl at all."

Sakura repeated the same actions and thrust the picture at Hinata, who eyed it curiously and then handed it back to Sakura with a frown on her visage.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Ahh! If _you _guy's can't tell and _I _can't tell, then I'll never find out who this _damn _girl is!" Her voice rang through the hallways a bit louder than actually needed.

They were all standing by the main doors, told to meet there by Sakura who had called each of them an hour earlier and told them to come to school early.

"Sakura, why the sudden interest anyway? The last time you asked me to look at that was like a year and a half ago." Ino quizzed, giving the distressed Sakura a puzzled look.

"Because...I had a dream about him again. But I can hardly get a good picture of any of it. It happened too long ago and this," She held up the picture, eyebrows raised, "_this _is all I have to jolt my memory. But it's not helping in the slightest. I have no idea who this little girl is!"

Tenten sighed and rested her hand on Sakura's tensed shoulder, inducing her to relax a bit and slip the picture into one of her notebooks.

"Well the picture's old now, so it would be impossible to identify the person from the picture to today. But please...explain to me what kind of dream this was exactly." The brunette hissed, a little frustrated with the fact that her pink-haired friend had called her to school forty-five minutes early. She at least wanted to know the story behind her reason.

Sakura nodded, sighed heavily, and leaned against the doors.

"When I was really young, I was at a party thing with my mom. I had a really high fever and everything is a little fuzzy. I can't draw up any focused images. See, my father had died just two months before this party, so there was nobody to take care of me. Thus, my mother made me go. But whatever, I don't need to go into detail." She tapped her finger on her chin, while Tenten and Hinata leaned in. Ino had heard the story in detail a couple times before this, so she wasn't as interested.

"Anyway, I remember that I was bored with the party, so I went out the back door...and it came out in an alley, right? Well, there was this boy that was walking out of the alley and, due to my boredom, I said hello and we talked a bit. To make a long story short, we decided to ditch the party together so I hopped on his bike and he took me somewhere. All I remember of the place was that there were many lights and it was pretty neat, but after he took me back to the party, he said his goodbye's and gave me this picture. The one thing I remember so well, was that he said he was 'having trouble making an important decision, but I had helped him make up his mind'...and then he gave me the picture, telling me he didn't need it anymore. And so, I've kept it ever since."

Hinata blushed. "It sounds like long lost love, or something." Her voice was soft, but it caused Sakura to smirk.

Yeah, she kind of seen the situation like that herself. After all, she was searching for a boy to make her fairytale life become a reality. Wouldn't it be awesome if she met up with that boy one day?

"Sounds cute. But the girl in the picture...did he tell you what she was to him?" Tenten inquired, placing her hands on her hips. Sakura thought about that for a second and then shook her head, realizing that she never really knew the answer to that. Suddenly, she felt a bit bummed.

"Look, _Sa_-_ku_-_ra_. I love you and I wish I could help...but I have time to blow, so I'm going to grab a latte. Anybody want to join me?" Ino pushed past Sakura, exiting the doors. Tenten rushed after Ino, waving goodbye to a slightly depressed Sakura.

"Wish I could be of more help to you." Hinata's soft voice caused Sakura to look back at her and force a smile. It wasn't her fault she didn't know who the girl was.

"Nah, it's alright. Go with them and bring me back a vanilla latte, would you? I'm gonna go to math early and see if I can't get ahead on the lesson today."

Hinata nodded and rushed out the door and down the steps to catch up with the others. Sakura watched them go until they were fully out of sight, and then she idly made her way down the basically deserted hallway. She smoothed out her long hair that was tied up in a pink ribbon at the top her her head.

Really, it wasn't their fault her friends couldn't identify the picture, but she couldn't help feeling disappointed. It totally sucked not being able to put the puzzle together! And honestly, that was a big reason why she became so interested in happy endings and falling in love.

"Oh, Sakura? Is that you?"

Sakura glanced over her shoulder to see Kakashi speed right past her with a bunch of books in his hands.

"Y-yes, sensei." She muttered, watching him speed walk down the white hallway.

"Ahh. Well, I'm not sure why you're here so early...but I like it. I can tell, you'll be a good student."

A smile flashed across her face. "Sensei!" She called, causing him to halt at the opposite end of the hallway. He turned around to glance at her, sparking a notion in her thoughts. Kakashi always wore a weird white scarf-type thing across the bottom half of his face, and he had a scar across his left eye. She had never really paid much thought to it until now, but decided to push it to the back of her mind when her other resolve took priority once more.

"Where can I find some matches?"

He raised his eyebrow at her, signaling that she should have worded that a little better. She sounded like she wanted to go smoke or start the school on fire or something.

"Just need it for something kind of important. It can't really wait. But I promise I'll be careful." She finished, scratched her cheek with her index finger. She stuck her tongue out, working her whole innocent look on him.

Kakashi nodded and smiled at her. How could she tell? It was the way his eyes crinkled so mischievously gave it away.

"Should be some in Storage Room C. Top shelf in a tiny white box next to some old art supplies. There aren't many in there so you can just take the box. And I didn't just tell you where to get supplies to play with fire." With that, he bolted around the corner, leaving Sakura to wave with a confused smile. Strange guy.

* * *

She slowly scowered the halls looking for the room she desired. Who knew this stupid school was so incredibly big? And everything looked the same.

But lucky her, after about ten minutes of searching, she found Storage Room C, gleefully opening the door and walking in. She didn't close the door, thinking it would only take a second, until she flipped on the dim light and found that the top shelf...was _much _higher than she had originally thought.

_Oh, that's just great. How in the world am I suppose to reach that?_

She scanned the top shelf carefully and spotted the white box Kakashi must have been talking about. Raising her slender arms above her, she stretched and reached for the box, coming up just short of being able to actually get a grip on it. She felt herself swaying on her tip toes and groaned, bringing her arms down for a break.

_I hate you, stupid box._

For some reason, she found herself glaring dangerously at the box. Why did this need to be so increasingly difficult?

She took a deep breath and reached up once more, still failing to come close enough to secure the item.

"Damn it! Why can't I reach?!" She swore loudly, suddenly feeling something firm up against her back.

"'Cause you're short."

Her eyes shot open.

_Hey, that voice sounds a bit familiar._

She noticed an arm extend up above her, realizing that it was obviously some body's body behind her. All of a sudden, she felt fidgety, due to their proximity, and turned around sharply to glance up at the strangers' face.

_Oh god._

Her mouth opened wide, only to choke on air. Sakura was at a complete loss of words, for once in her life.

"S-Sasuke..." She managaed to stutter after a moment, swallowing hard. Now, this wouldn't have been so completely degrading and awkward if she wouldn't have ran into him the other day..._and _just swore like a caveman seconds earlier. There was _no way _he didn't hear that.

Snapping back to reality, she noticed Sasuke handing the white box to her. He had taken a step back, probably noticing her growing uneasiness. Immediately, she flushed, snatching the box from him quickly.

_There's no possible way for me not to screw this up, is there?_

"Thank you very much." Her tongue formed the words quickly and she found that she couldn't look him in the eyes. In his mystic...onyx eyes. So, she stared at his chest instead. But was that honestly any better?

"Yeah." Was his monotone reply, and as her eyes quickly stole a peek at his face, she noticed a curious look on it. "What are you doing in here anyway?"

She cleared her throat and drummed her thumbs on the box. Finally, she built up the courage to look at him.

"I needed matches for something. What are _you _doing here so early?"

He perked at eye brow. "It's not that early."

She blinked a couple of times and realized that a lot of time had passed since she had parted from her friends.

_You're so stupid, Sakura._

"Right." She looked off to her right and then looked back at him.

"It was just my luck I happened to walk by this room when you needed me."

_When I...needed him?_

"Y-yeah." She struggled to keep her gaze from straying from his eyes. "So, um...sorry about the other day...you know, running into you like that? It was pretty careless."

She felt her heart jump into her throat and all her breathing cut off as she seen a faint smirk appear on his lips.

"Yeah, well sorry I made you fall for me."

_Oh. My._

"Literally."

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, narrowing her lush aquamarine eyes at him. But after she realized she appeared like more of a moron by not saying anything to that than actually retorting, she opened her mouth once more.

"You're forgiven." Feeling a bit more at ease, just a bit, she let her lips fall into a delicate smile.

Sasuke nodded, his faint smirk still present, and ran his hands through his hair. He, then, turned to walk out of the room, feeling Sakura's eyes glued to his back.

He couldn't help but find her a curious girl.

"So, I'll see you last period." Came his low, seductive voice.

She felt butterflies in her stomach eat away at her sanity as he disappeared from viewpoint.

There had to be so much more to a guy like that...who came off so mysterious, yet simple. There had to be so much more...

It was funny how much Sakura was _dying _to find out.

_And see you last period, I shall...Sasuke Uchiha._

* * *

_Next Chapter_

_He, The Tainted Realist_

* * *


	3. He, The Tainted Realist

**Alrighty, it's up!  
Hope you enjoy!  
I want some major R&R, yo!  
Please?  
**

* * *

-

_**Chapter Three:**_

_He, The Tainted Realist_

_-_

_"Stay for a moment and I promise I will be different and you'll see me."_

_-_

* * *

Sakura tapped her pencil on her desk repeatedly, pretending to actually be paying attention to the words Kurenai-sensei was saying. But it was no use. Creative writing wasn't an extremely tiresome class or anything, it's just that...Sakura couldn't concentrate. Not with _Sasuke _sitting right next to her.

_"I don't know if you'd call me lucky or cursed, but I, Sakura Haruno, am stuck between suffering and enjoyment. If that makes any sense."_

She glanced quickly at Sasuke, who was slouched forward in his chair, chin resting in his hands, trying very hard to keep his eyes open. It had been a whole week since she had so awkwardly talked to him in the storage room, and since that moment...she hadn't said another word to him. He had finished up that week and then missed the first three days of this week, leaving today to be his first day back to class. Strange. Sakura couldn't help but want to sneak into his house to find out what he does with all his free time.

_"Ever since my whole running-into-him incedent with Sasuke Uchiha a while back...I've felt like a moron in front of him. Well, not so much a moron, I guess. I just can't help but wonder what he thinks of me. See, every girl talks about him like he's a god...and I've learned a few things about him from all the dramatic gossip floating around. Like, I guess his favorite class is math...and rumor is, he's into girls with long hair, lucky me. But still...no matter how much I, or anybody else, wants to believe these things...they're just rumors. And I have no idea if I can believe them or not. And really...that bothers me! Because I want to know so much more about him. And I really want to know what he thinks about me."_

She then looked forward at Kurenai, and then at the clock above the door. Ten more minutes and she could go home...and then it was one more day until the weekend! Oh, how she couldn't wait! She had blown her last weekend helping her mom with some gardening and cleaning, thus, she missed the girls night Tenten put on Saturday night.

"Okay class, the bell will ring in a minute. Think over the abstract emotion you want to do your paper on, and make sure it's done by Tuesday." Kurenai chirped, sitting in her desk to attend to some important looking papers.

Sakura sighed with relief. She was just so happy to be able to go home and sleep the rest of the day away. Actually, Sakura wasn't really sure yet if she had a bad case of insomnia, or just never felt like sleeping much. Either way, it wasn't a good habit.

She set her manga book out in front of her and rested her bored eyes on it. Surprisingly, she had just finished it this morning. Most of the time, she'd finish her manga almost immediately...but time must have just escaped her.

All the while, Sasuke was ruffling through his notebooks, and glanced at Sakura out of the corner of his eye.

After contemplating it for a while, he finally spoke.

"That any good?"

Almost like a dog, she could feel her ears perk up at his handsome voice, and she glanced over at him, blinking furiously with disbelief. He, in turn, turned his gaze back to his desk and continued to close his notebook's and stack them together neatly.

_Is he talking to me??_

She turned her stare back down at her manga book once again.

_Is he talking about this?_

"Um, I don't know. I liked it, but the ending was a bit predictable. Although, I really like Tsuugi's style. So besides being a bit disappointed, I'll still keep reading his works." She spoke fast, feeling like a moron. A simple yes would have sufficed. But now, her curiosity caught hold of her as she seen him sneak a peek at her through the corner of his, twitching, eye. Did something she say upset him?

"Do you actually care?" Tenten quizzed, entering the conversation and turning herself around in her desk to face Sasuke.

But before Sasuke could reply, Naruto answered for him.

"No, he doesn't. He's just trying to strike up conversation with Sakura because she's hot." His hands were behind his head, and he leaned back a bit so he could see her, shooting her a Naruto-like grin.

Sakura, in turn, narrowed her eyes resentfully, while she heard Sasuke sigh, clearly annoyed by the blond as well.

"Have I ever told you that you're an absolute loser, Naruto?" Sakura hissed furiously.

Then, as the bell rang, Sakura heard a light...very faint, chuckle from Sasuke.

"I tell him that everyday." He rang out, standing up and making his way down the row to exit the class room. After a few muttered swear words, Naruto got up and followed huffily, leaving Sakura to feel completely dumbfounded.

It didn't take long for her to notice the few, who had actually noticed that she was talking to Sasuke, girls, glaring at her dangerously.

"Well, I guess running into him wasn't such a bad thing. No matter how little, he's _actually _taking to you." Tenten said as the two stood up and shuffled out of the room.

Sakura felt a burst of chills creep over her skin. Sasuke Uchiha...had just spoken to her first.

Maybe getting to know him a little better wouldn't be so hard after all.

* * *

"Heh, she totally burned you. Tell me, how does that make you feel?"

The blonde's annoying and obnoxious laughter rang through Sasuke's ears, as did his incompetent words. Oh, how he wanted to launch him half way across the planet right now.

"Shut _up_, already. She didn't burn me, and I couldn't even care less."

"Right, right."

They were standing off to the left, right if you were exiting, of the school building...patiently waiting for Kiba and Shikamaru to meet up with them so they could head over to the mall for some movie Naruto just _had _to see.

The wind was blowing strongly, adding to the now-cooling temperature.

"Where are they? Didn't you tell them to meet us here?" Sasuke's waspish groan caused Naruto to glance at his phone, and then shove it deep into his right pants pocket.

"I did. I texted them last period...but they have some sociology class at the end of the day and it's way up on like, the 4th floor." Naruto explained, earning an eye roll from Sasuke.

"Excuses." He muttered.

"Oh, you're the _king _of excuses."

"And _you're _the king of stupidity. Let's not point out the obvious."

"Hey, hey! Looky behind you! On the stairway ledge!"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and after a moment, turned his head to glance in the direction Naruto's finger was now pointing.

There stood Sakura, Ino, and Hinata...indulged in a conversation. Sakura ran her hands over the back of her black, short skirt and sat on the cement ledge rather gracefully.

Sasuke's eyes widened unconsciously as he seen her flip her silken, pink hair back behind her shoulder and turn her head to her right, a soft, yet enchanting smile on her face. She leaned onto her left arm that was placed on her side and her deep green eyes relaxed, almost soaking up the sun's rays.

And it was at that moment, that Sasuke felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, and a strange tingling sensation run over his back. He simply took in the sight of her...and maybe it was just the setting around her, but she looked absolutely...absolutely...something. And he had to admit, she sparked his interest.

_Could she be...what I'm looking for?_

"Are you staring at Ino, Sakura, or Hinata?"

He snapped his head back to notice Shikamaru and Kiba now present and ready to go. Shikamaru's bored expression left Sasuke slightly unwilling to answer that, until he caught a glimpse of Naruto's satisfied grin.

"Sakura, _clearly_." The blond answered quickly.

"Neither, thanks." Sasuke snapped irritably, resting his infuriated stare on Naruto instead of Shikamaru.

"Hey, she's that cute girl that was with that sophomore friend of yours the other day, isn't she?" Kiba turned his attention to a bored Shikamaru, who really just wanted to head to the mall.

After sighing and nodding, he added, "Yeah, Sakura Haruno...Ino's friend."

Kiba chuckled quietly and the four started making their way toward the parking lot.

"Those girls aren't too bad looking. And the younger ones are definitely my taste." Kiba slapped Naruto on the back. "Shikamaru can hook up with that Ino chick,"

Said boy flinched.

"...and I bet you'll take that other girl that was with them." Kiba then glanced at Sasuke, who was trying desperately to avoid the conversation. "And we all know the Uchiha's into older girls so-"

Now his eyes flickered over to Kiba, glowering severely.

Kiba blinked rapidly and then cleared his throat, realizing he was treading on unsafe waters.

"N-never mind."

Naruto then shuffled closer to Sasuke, who turned his gaze away from him and sighed.

"I noticed the way you looked at her." The blonde's tone was serious yet light, quiet yet unwavering. "Do you want me-"

"Not a chance."

A frown found it's way onto Naruto's face as he glanced away and shook his head. What a stubborn guy.

"Fine then. Whatever you say."

* * *

She threw her water bottle into the garbage can next to her and ran a hand through her pony tail. Stray strands fell around her face, highlighting her cheekbones and emerald eyes.

"He's _never _here. I'm seriously just considering not showing up to class because really, _he's _the only reason I go."

Sakura attempted to crack her neck a bit, letting out a quiet groan. She just wanted to relax...to go home and sleep away the rest of the night. Thankfully, it was Friday, and school was now at a close for two whole days. So much for going out and having a social life on the weekend, though. Sakura was just too tired for that...considering she had pulled another all nighter last night. And to add to her drowsiness, Ino was babbling next to her, giving her a slight headache, as the two stood in front of the large building now emptying its halls of students for the weekend.

"That's a poor reason to go to class, Ino."

"Don't even give me that. You _know _you can't stand his poor attendance, either. I mean, come _on_! He could be a little more attentive to those that would like to see him."

And there she went, being an drama queen.

"Yo, Sakura!"

Both girls turned their heads simultaneously to see Naruto running up to them at full speed. He stopped right in front of Sakura, causing her to take a step back and glance at him very phlegmatically.

"What?" Her voice was low and to the point, giving Naruto the impression that she was in a bad mood. And that impression...was dead on the spot.

"Look, I need a favor."

Sakura opened her mouth to instantly shut him down, when Ino decided to put in her own words.

"I need one, too. Make Sasuke come to school more often."

Now both Sakura and Naruto raised their eyebrows at her blunt and obsessive words.

Would the girl ever give up?

"_You _make him come to school more often."

"That's not possible."

"I know." Naruto chuckled sarcastically, winning a blustery stare from the now very unhappy teenager. Right after he noticed her eyebrow twitching, he turned his attention back to Sakura, who noticed this and sighed impatiently.

"What kind of favor do you want?"

A pout took over Naruto's face.

"Shikamaru and I have somewhere we need to be in, like, ten minutes...so I don't have time to do this myself-"

"-the mall."

Once again, they both turned their heads toward Ino, and then Sakura glanced at Naruto, unimpressed. He just wanted to dump some load of nothingness onto her shoulders to make her day even more annoying. That was just like him.

Naruto scowled at Ino as she continued.

"You're going to the mall to meet some girl from Suna High with Shikamaru. Hardly important."

"Chyaa- it is. You _don't _know."

"Oh, whatev-"

"_You don't know_."

A small shriek of annoyance escaped Sakura's lips as she got both their eyes back on her. Her head was slightly screaming, and the increasing pain circulating through her skull somehow intensified the vexatious sounds all around her.

"Tell me the favor and I'll do it. Just hurry. And you owe me."

Ino rolled her eyes at the two and bowed her head quickly, indicating she was going to take her leave.

"Text me later!" She shouted as she took off running in the opposite direction. Sakura waved slowly and then after a moment turned her bored visage back to the boy in front of her.

_One slight annoyance down...now just the other to go._

"Here," He pulled his back pack up in front of him and unzipped it quickly, pulling out what looked like...paper?

"What is that?" Sakura spat incredulously. There was _no _way she was running some _paper _to somebody.

"Sketch paper...stuff? Just take it to...this address..." He handed her the new notebook looking thing that was still covered in a shiny plastic, and a small piece of paper that looked like it was torn off the corner of a notebook.

Sakura scanned it carefully, drawing her lips into a tight line. Oh, how she didn't feel up to this.

"Naruto...you know this is completely out of my way." Her tone just had to point out that he was wearing on her last nerve.

"Yeah...but not too far! Please, I'm begging you, Sakura! I'll owe you big in the future, I swear. I _promised _this person I'd have this delivered, so please! They're expecting it!" He spun his backpack around so it was on his backside once more, and clasped his hands together to beg his stubborn friend.

After a moment or two, Sakura sighed and nodded...and almost instantly, Naruto took off, shouting numerous 'thank you's' back to her.

She glanced back down at the address before slowly and unwillingly beginning her toward the given destination.

* * *

About twenty minutes of speed walking passed, but to Sakura...it felt like three hours. She skimmed the area around her...from her left to right. All around her were nice houses with fairly spacious and green lawns. Definitely a splendid area of the rather large city to reside in. Even she had to admit she was a bit envious...though her house was pretty nice itself.

She had the photograph of the little girl she was showing to Ino and the others the other week sitting on top of the sketchbook in her possession. Every once in a while she glanced down at it and tried to run the image through her head once more, but it was no use. She couldn't match it up...and this frustrated her.

_Thanks to running into Sasuke that one day, I never even got the chance to get rid of this stupid picture. I'll have to do that soon._

She soughed heavily, a bit unimpressed with herself. It was a total let down that she couldn't recognize the girl.

Hesitantly, Sakura folded the picture and slipped it into the tiny pocket up by the collar of her uniform. Her pale yellow and black striped tie gradually swayed back and worth against the white material. After she had secured the photo so it couldn't be seen, she continued to walk unwillingly.

After about another five minutes, she came across a fairly good sized, light blue house. The house that fit the address she was to make her way to. The lawn was neatly kept, although it lacked scenery...like flowers, or tree's. But what she could see from when she started making her way down the sidewalk to the doorway, was a favorable and capacious back yard. Tipping her head to the side and taking in the area around her, she noticed that this house was actually a bit more separated from the others and it was build atop a hill...not that she could tell how big it was or anything from where she was currently located. But she found herself almost wishing she could live here herself. It seemed really peaceful.

Amidst her envying, she realized she was right in front of the white door, sketchbook thingy in front of her, and one hand ready to knock on the door.

_Knock._

_Knock._

_Knock._

She stood patiently, shifting from her tip toes to her heels and back again. Gently, she started nibbling on her bottom lip and glancing off to her sides. It was a rather calm day, and she managed to notice the birds chirping around her. As she started to fall into a daydream, she snapped back out of it to realize it had been like twenty seconds...and no reply.

_Knock._

_Knock._

And as she went for the third knock, she accidental bit down on her lip rather hard and squealed, causing her to jump and be thrown into a very unpleasant and ticked off mood.

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

And it was just like her to take it out on the door. The knocking wasn't even knocking...her hand was now a fist, violently hitting the door over and over again.

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

_KNOCK._

This time, while her hand was in motion, an angry scowl planted her face...the door opened and she halted mid-motion, heart dropping into her stomach like a rock.

"Impatient much?"

_My...god..._

There stood Sasuke Uchiha, in all his glory, one hand resting behind his head...and a displeased...or maybe just amused, wide-eyed stare on his face, highlighting his beautiful, dark eyes. He was simply in a black t-shirt and baggy white shorts...and in all honesty, it was very attractive, in a relaxed way. Yet this current awkward situation only chewed at her nerves...and added to the other awkward situations she was so doomed to share with this unbelievably gorgeous boy.

She stared at him like a deer in headlights, slowly lowering her arm down to grasp the other side of the package in her hands. Once she had done just that, her grip tightened tremendously.

"Sakura?"

_Say something. Say something. Say something. Say something. Damn it! Just say something!! Anything!!_

"I'm...sorry." She fumbled with the words, not because she was nervous...but because she was oh, majorly embarrassed!? Here she was, pounding like a _caveman _on Sasuke's door.

What_ever_...

He glanced down at the sketchbook in her hands, giving it the same curious expression as she had given it when Naruto handed it to her just a while ago.

_Oh, note to self...make sure to kill Naruto next time I see him. That little...he knew damn well where I was going. He did this to embarrass me. I'll rip him into little pieces and bury him six feet under ground. Yeah._

Pushing aside her inner ramblings, she regained her composure and spoke bravely.

"Here." She held it out a little ways but he made no motion indicating he was going to take it.

"What is it?" Was his dull reply.

She perked an eyebrow, glancing at the sketchbook and then back up to him.

"Something for you. I was suppose to drop it off. Isn't it...for you?"

He just stared at her, bored.

A moment of silence passed, increasing her feeling of embarrassment that she was so desperately trying to ignore right now.

"No?" His reply.

"Yes?"

"...No."

All she could do was blink, looking like a lost child who had no idea where she was. How pitiful.

"Y-ye-"

_Oh my god. Wait._

And then suddenly it hit her like a hard-cover book to the side of her face.

She shook her head and sighed, closing her eyes and drawing her lips into a tight line. Sasuke just blinked a couple times at her sudden change of expression.

"Naruto never promised to drop anything off, did he." It was more a statement than a question, Sasuke noticed.

A corner of his lips raised slightly-

-_Just _slightly.

"No?"

She struggled to control her rising temper.

_That damn jerk!! He planned this...knowing I would make a complete fool of myself! Why, I swear..._

"Just take it-" She thrust it forward so it hit him in the stomach, and he never moved his eyes from her now very distressed ones.

"Ok?" He turned his chin slightly, amused and bored...all at the same time.

Only he could make that possible.

Once more, she sighed heavily...just wanting to crawl into a hole and die. But to her dismay, Sasuke hadn't even budged an inch to receive the sketchbook from her. She was in the planning of nudging it harder into his stomach so he'd get the hint, when he totally threw her out of her comfort zone with two simple words.

"Come in."

She gawked at him.

He brought the arm resting behind his head down and used the other to push the door open enough for her to enter.

And...she continued to gawk at him.

_Come again?_

She swallowed hard and shook off her confusion as she heard him tell her to set the sketchbook on the table to the left of the door. And before she knew it, she was inside Sasuke's house...doing exactly as he said. He had made his way into his kitchen and gestured her to sit down on a couch in the living room, not far from the door. It was a nice house, and because of this...she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous and uneasy. Not only was he majorly good looking...he was probably loaded, too. Now she pondered the thought of his parents and where they worked.

And all this happened in a matter of minutes...yet to Sakura, it was like time had sped up, and it only felt like a few seconds.

"Nice house. Where are you're parents?" It was a poor attempt to start conversation, yes...but it was something at least.

After setting a glass of water on the coffee table next to Sakura, Sasuke pulled up a chair from the kitchen, that was accessible from the living room, and sat a good distance in front of her with his new sketchbook on his lap.

"Not here."

She rested her hands on her lap and sat up straight, clearly trying a bit too hard to look well-mannered and sophisticated.

"Where do they work?"

"They don't."

Her eyebrows quirked a bit and she curled her toes up as she watched him rip off the plastic on the sketchbook and slowly roll it up into a ball.

"E-excuse me?" Her voice became a bit quieter. He dropped the garbage on the floor next to his chair and looked up at her, his black, stoic eyes meeting her uncomfortable, jade ones.

"They don't work. They died when I was really young."

Her hand flew in front of her mouth and she instantly started cursing herself. Suddenly, she just felt like getting up and walking out of his house, pretending this never happened. But she felt glue to the couch.

Who was she kidding? This was were she _wanted _to be.

"Oh. I didn't know."

"Hn."

She lowered her hand and looked down to the dark blue carpet, her expression guarded.

_Damn, of all the stupid things to say. Why do I keep messing this up?_

"You can relax, you know."

Her eyes shot up to his, only to notice he had the sketchbook ready in hand with a pencil as well, and a calm and relaxed expression on his face. Oblivious to her racing heart, she nodded and leaned back on the couch, exhaling a deep breathe. It was then that she actually noticed his position...and she eyed the sketchbook curiously.

"What are you doing?" Though it was intended to be an innocent question in a sweet, school-girl voice...it was straightforward and a bit offending. He looked like he was ready to draw...but was he planning on drawing her or something?

He brought his left leg up and rested it on the edge of the wooden seat, positioning himself, to what looked like uncomfortable from Sakura's point of view, so that he could properly start sketching.

"Why not try it out?"

Both her eyebrows shot up instantly and she wanted so much to tell him _not _to try it out...but for some reason...her lips never formed those words...instead...

"You draw?"

With the sketchbook propped up a bit, she couldn't quite see his face that well...but she had the slightest notion that he was smirking.

"Not so much."

And then she seen his elbow moving just an inch or so in every which direction. Every once in a while she would notice his eyes shoot around the sketchbook to take in the sight of her. All she could do was sit there and stare...but after about five solid minutes of no noise or hint of conversation, she started fidgeting and gave in a bit to her talkative side.

"Why do you never come to school?"

After the words came out, she realized it sounded so much like prying...and the ten seconds of silence that followed her question made her feel a bit nauseous and uneasy.

"Why do you never _miss _school?" Was his answer.

In reply, Sakura blinked repeatedly, twisting her eyebrows and crinkling her nose softly. Sasuke glanced up at her and narrowed his eyes, pondering her weird expression. After a moment of blankly staring at each other, Sakura responded.

"You're not suppose to miss school. Besides, I have nothing to do in the meantime. So, why not go?" She gracefully bought her left hand up and brushed away some strands falling into her face. All the while, Sasuke rested the sketchbook on his lap, face down so she couldn't sneak a peek at his work.

"I have things I can do in the meantime. School's just annoying."

She tucked her chin down a bit and her jade eyes sparkled. "What do you do in the meantime, then?"

And after his eyes widened quick and then returned back to normal, he smirked.

_Smirked_.

And her pulse jumped up to infinity just like that...taking everything in her not to smile back at him and blush.

"Aren't you prying a little?"

She swallowed quickly and looked off to the side, now failing to conceal her nervous charm.

"M-maybe. I'm only curious. You miss so many days...I just can't think of a reason for that." Though she managed to keep her voice firm, when she looked back at him to see the sketchbook back up and him drawing on it neatly, she failed in maintaining a calm composure.

"I don't feel like going most days." His monotone reply.

Suddenly, she felt her knight in shining armour was a bit lazy and prioritized.

"Oh."

Another solid five minutes passed of pure silence and awkwardness. And then suddenly, she heard him speak, resting the sketchbook upside down on his lap once more and looking at her with a serious, and beautiful, expression that could make any girl faint.

"You ask a lot of questions."

She furrowed her brow and leaned forward defensively.

"I don't, really. The other day you asked me about my manga book. I'm just giving you a question or two of my own." She crossed her arms in front of her, feeling that that was a reasonable explanation.

And then he perked one eyebrow, eyes lighting up interestingly.

"Oh, yeah. That boring and predictable manga book? That author must really be a total loser."

Her jaw dropped open, cheeks blazing red. It was all she could do not to start rambling on about how he knew _nothing _about it, considering he was very faintly smirking at her surprised look once again. But who really cared about a dumb manga book anyway? It'd be pointless to argue about it.

"It wasn't boring...and predictable's not always bad. Tsuugi is also an _amazing _artist. His works are like fairy tales."

Sasuke crossed his arms in front of them.

"Fairy tales?"

"Yeah." She spat.

"Hmm." He tilted his head way off to his right so that his head was almost resting on his shoulder, and his bangs covered most of his face.

Except his now growing smirk.

"Fairy tales don't exist."

Her eyes widened, almost giving her a look that made it seem as if she were just physically hurt by his words.

"It makes sense you'd say that. The manga I read is shoujo manga. It's not exactly meant for guys to enjoy."

"Shoujo or not. Makes no difference. Believing is a waste."

Now her damaged expression turned wary and a bit on edge. She leaned back and as she did, it was almost as if it pulled him forward. He leaned forward and uncrossed his arms, resting them on his knee's and staring at her with a very intense gaze.

"Sakura Haruno."

She winced.

_Oh wow. So I guess he did know my last name after all._

"I'm a natural observer. I only need to see something once to memorize it."

One eyebrow raised and she rested her hands neatly on her lap.

_Is he trying to brag or something?_

"I can read you like a book."

His finishing words just blew her away, making her want to slap him and seduce him all at the same time.

"Oh, _really_?" Her dapper reply.

"Should I prove it?" His tainted question.

She narrowed her eyes and nodded, inducing him to do his utmost to pick her apart bit by bit by visual observation. How interesting.

After about twenty seconds passed, his eyes relaxed after carrying such a serious look, and he spoke.

"You don't seem like the girl who spends too much time worrying about how she looks. Instead, you're a deep thinking. You want to be liked and noticed, but you won't resort to doing anything uncomfortable to get there."

Her eyes widened very slowly with every dead-on word that came spilling out of his mouth. And noticing this, he decided to delve deeper with every piece of truth he had to offer her.

"You're captivated by 'what if's' and 'once upon a time's'. You believe in god and are fascinated by small things, and you've really never felt any true kind of pain. You're innocence at it's finest and you've yet to be tainted by the sad truth that reality is not a fairytale. Yet, you still want lots of friends and a prince charming to sweep you off your feet to give you a secure and wonderful future-"

He paused for dramatic effect.

"-And the perfect happy ending."

As she suddenly felt cold and like the whole world was pushing her into a tiny cramped space...she was majorly astounded that Sasuke Uchiha had just said so many words to her. Yet, she couldn't ignore them...and was surprised by them.

But it was as he lifted up the sides of the sketchbook and revealed his sketch to her, that her breath was truly taken from her.

In all her life, she could have never guess he'd turn out to be artistic in any sense. It was absolutely amazing. The shading and outline was precise, and it looked just like her. It was perfect...making her heart skip a beat and leave her speechless. But the thing that shocked her to no end...and maybe confused her a bit...

Was how much like a manga drawing it looked.

"Am I right?"

Her eyes shot up from the drawing to pierce his, and she had lost all her previous thoughts. Instantly, she sensed the bit of arrogance in his voice and decided it was now time to take her leave.

This was what she wanted, yes...she was in no way disappointed. But she didn't want to seem eager to be there or even interested in him in the slightest.

So, she rose to her feet and stared down at him like a princess ordering someone to a dungeon.

"Well, you're definitely not wrong. I am a believer in god-"

A very small pause as he smirked at her in triumph once again.

"When the time permits." She finished, earning herself a bit of satisfaction at his displeased look that was now overcoming his adorable visage. "I don't spend too much time on my looks, but I do, overall, want to look good. I'm definitely a deep thinker and I'm completely fascinated by all the 'what if's' and the small things. I, however, have felt true pain. But I'm still the innocent believer you see me as."

She flipped her head to the side, causing her long hair to flow around her, and started to make her way toward the door, hearing him stand up and chuckle just slightly.

"But basically, I was right."

Once she reached the door, she turned on her heel to face him, while bringing her arm back behind her to open the door.

Now it was her turn to smile in a slightly arrogant way.

"Basically, you were right about most of it. You, Sasuke Uchiha, are a natural observer. Congratulations."

Uh oh. Her smart ass side was showing itself.

She pushed her long pink hair behind her right ear and batted her eyelashes, confirming his recent assumptions at her delicate innocence.

"But-"

His lips drew into a tight line.

"You also, Sasuke, are a tainted realist. And you're completely wrong about fairy tales. Reality itself may not be one, but happy endings are still possible in it."

He opened his mouth as if to say something against that, but as she now turned herself to exit his home, he decided to close his mouth and leave her with the last word...for now.

Because she was right.

He _was _the tainted realist.

She _was _the innocent believer...

And _exactly _what he was looking for.

* * *

_Next Chapter_

_Inspiration Is Forever_


	4. Inspiration Is Forever

**Sorry for the delay.  
I feel I may actually be able to get deep into this now.  
Hope at least somebody is still reading...**

* * *

-

**Chapter Four:**

_Inspiration Is Forever_

-

_"Fade in, start the scene. Enter beautiful girl."_

_-_

* * *

"Oh my _god_."

Ino was on the edge of the couch, hands position tightly between her knees, as she stared with wide eyes at a relaxed Sakura, who was leaned back in a big burgundy chair, sipping on a peach smoothie.

"It wasn't anything special, but I'll admit, I was totally shocked when he opened the door." Came her chill reply.

But secretly, it _was _something special...and totally shocked was a complete understatement. But she'd never tell Ino that. In fact, for some reason, something in her just told her to shorten the story to believable lengths and keep the rest to herself. Like her own little secret.

"So, you gave him the package, said hi and whatever...and then left. He never invited you in?" Tenten quizzed, sitting on the arm chair next to Ino, while a quiet Hinata sat on the other side of the couch. In between the two was a small tray with peanut butter cookies and mango smoothies Sakura's mother had so generously prepared.

"No, but he might have. I just gave him the package and took off. I was tired anyway."

"Liar."

Sakura perked an eyebrow at Ino's alarmed and unbelieving voice. She slowly let the cold from the glass sink into her lip as she halted mid-motion in sipping her smoothie. Ino's watchful eyes on her just made her fidget a bit too much.

"How could you like the guy _so _much and not try everything to get inside his house?" Came her snoopy question. Tenten nodded beside her, now joining in the curious accusations. Sakura rested the smoothie on her knee now feeling the cold pierce her skin, and prepared something witty in her head only to have Hinata speak up for her.

"Sakura isn't so forward I don't think. That's something _you'd _do, Ino."

Ino glanced at Hinata crookedly and then sighed, reaching for a cookie and shoving it into her mouth hastily.

"Good point." Tenten added quickly while Sakura, now feeling the pressure let off for a moment, brought the glass back up and savored the taste of mango on her tongue.

"Still...I'm severely disappointed in you, Sakura." Ino's tone was muffled from the bits of food still in her mouth.

"I know, and I'm-"

"_Severely_."

Sakura's expression looked a bit taken back, but then she rolled her eyes at Ino just as her mother entered the living room with a bright smile and long dark pink hair tied up into a bun at the top of her head.

"Why are you disappointed, Ino?" Her mother's soft reply. Sakura winced and set her smoothie down on the table next to her quickly, hoping that Ino wouldn't say anything stupid or embarrassing. It was just her luck that her mother would walk in at a point when she was truly unwanted.

Her mother was a young, beautiful woman that could have easily passed for Sakura's elder sister in a place where she wasn't already well known. She was a business woman of sorts, dealing with computer programs and other things Sakura didn't bother to indulge herself in. And above all, she kept a fair distance between herself and her mother...in a sense where she didn't feel comfortable enough to spill her guts unnecessarily. It had been like this since her father had passed away.

"Oh, your daughters just a bit love shy-

"It's not _love_." The pink haired teen snapped, causing the blond one to wave it off and cross her arms huffily.

"Sure, sure."

An eye roll. "It's not," She turned her attention to her mother. "It's not love. It's not _anything_. It's not important. It's...what-what did you need, Mom?"

After a moment of examining her daughter, Ayaka Haruno smiled and gently ran her hands over her knee-length white skirt. Her motions seemed elegant and graceful, like a princess showing off her poise and beauty.

"I just wanted to see how the cookies were."

"Awesome, Miss Haruno." Tenten muttered happily, reaching over a pouting Ino to seize a cookie for herself. Hinata nodded and smiled up at Ayaka as well.

"Thank you very much."

Sakura's mother nodded. "I'm glad." She then turned her attention to Sakura who was just waiting for her to exit the living room. "And I really hope it isn't love, sweetheart. I really do."

Just then, something felt heavy inside her chest. With longing eyes, she watched her mother slowly turn and leave the vicinity, and then turned her attention back to Ino, who was watching her tenderly from the corner of her eye. Half of her wanted to snap at Ino and tell her to stop looking at her like that...while the other half took over and just chose to pretend like the stare went unnoticed.

She wasn't close to her mother, and she was almost positive her friends knew this. Yet, still...they always seemed to forget it around Ayaka's presence.

"Is you're mother going to start dating again?"

Her eyes shot over to Tenten...who was _clearly_ the blunt and oblivious one.

Her mother was not something she liked to talk about so openly. But that never stopped the brunette.

"No. Sorry, but I have somewhere to be in an hour and I should probably try to do something with my hair." Sakura stood up, almost letting the tension flow off of her into the room. She never meant to sound so icy...it just happened, but everyone caught it and got to their feet instantly as well.

"Right...my bad. Where you off to?" Tenten stiffled through a cough, realizing Sakura's bad mood was partially her fault.

"Naruto's."

Hinata's ears almost perked up like a puppy.

"Boo, you loser. Are you going to chew him out or something?" Ino asked, twirling her bangs around her finger. Ino was always good at playing the mediator, and the friend who could pretend no walls existed between personal subjects and friendship.

"Or something." Sakura glanced at Hinata, who's face was beginning to redden, and then continued to usher them out.

Chew him out was an understatement.

She had more so physical torture in mind.

* * *

Five loud bangs echoed through the messy, and tiny, room before the blond, who was in nothing but white socks and long baggy green shorts, answered the door to see a very unpleasant Sakura hiding her rage behind a sarcastic smile that screamed, 'you have five seconds to run.'

"I-I can explain." Raising his hands in front of him, he slowly took a few steps back, inducing Sakura to walk in and slam the door behind her.

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday evening! Beating Naruto to a bloody pulp...oh, just what she felt like doing!

"Yeah, well I sure hope so." _Now _she was well aware of, and gleefully enjoying, her cold, harsh tone.

Naruto maneuvered his backing up so that he was in front of the dark blue couch just a few feet from the door. He sat down unsteadily and looked up at Sakura, her arms crossed and lips drawn into a tight line. Her short pink shirt, light grey polo, long pink hair sprawled around her shoulders, and sparkly lip gloss would give one the image that she was a sweet innocent girl with no intention to brutally murder somebody...but that was _not _the case.

She should have been dressed up in black and white stripes for this occasion. All she could feel was her pulse raging and the screams building inside her throat.

"You...you look really pretty, Saku-"

"Start explaining!!" She bellowed, causing Naruto to flinch and drop his head down.

"I did it for you!!" He shouted back instantly, feeling his cheeks flush. He was no good under pressure.

She dropped her arms to her side, eye twitching furiously.

"_What_?"

"How else were you ever going to talk to him?! I totally scored you a free trip into his house!"

She opened her mouth to say something but then stopped, raising her finger in front of herself.

"How did you know that?"

Naruto glanced up at her with a wary expression like a puppy afraid to be hit.

"Sasuke told me."

Her stomach flipped, naturally creating a few unappealing knots.

"Told you?"

"Yeah. He said you came inside for a while and you let him sketch you. He also said you guys argued or something or other...and then you just left."

Something was weird. She figured Sasuke would just tell Naruto that she stopped by, gave him whatever, maybe came in, or maybe not, depending on how one wanted to tell the story, and then left without a single important occurrence to be noted. But from Naruto's knowledge of the incident...Sasuke seemed to be a lot more descriptive that she thought.

"Shut up, _you_. Don't do that again. You have your own relationship problems to deal with." She snapped, although her anger was slowly dissipating. Her random curiosity was taking over more than anything now.

Naruto stood up and tilted his head slightly, now feeling more secure and not so scared of a senseless beating. He could sense her mood differences like a dog. Maybe that was just natural considering their closeness over the years.

"And what does _that _mean?"

Sakura stared at him pitifully.

_Shame I have to explain it. Poor Hinata...but, maybe Naruto really has no clue...maybe he doesn't even know her?_

"It means...you're blind to your own ordeals."

"Oh...oh, yeah? Well at least if I _wasn't_, I'd act on them!"

_Wha...what? I just insulted you, you moron. Don't agree!_

"Um...what's that mean? Are you saying I don't?"

"Yep. You're not oblivious...just too stupid to- a_a_ccc_kk_k!"

He hit the floor quickly, feeling Sakura's legs on either side of him, pinching him tightly, while her right hand was planted firmly on his chest. He groaned from the pain and stared into her violent eyes, now pleading to rip him to pieces. She was much stronger than one would ever guess, and she had just tackled him like a football player...and now she was on him like a fat kid on cake.

"S-Sakura?!"

"Too _what_?"

"Nothing! Nothing!"

"That's not what you said! Too _what_?"

"_Smart_! _Beautiful_! Not _angry_! Not _scary_! Not stupid!!"

"That's exactly right!"

"Sakura, you need to get _off_!"

He snatched her wrist and groaned once more, on account of the fact that on his way down, he slammed his head on the floor. The throbbing was now starting.

"_Ouch_...Sakura!!"

"I oughta make you _beg _me, you little-"

Just then, the sound of a door opening, the front one, filled the room, along with the voice that followed, and shook Sakura's nerves to pieces.

"Hey, you loser...it's called answering your-"

Sakura's head shot up as she instantly recognized the voice.

"-phone."

But seriously...of all the perfect moments...and of all the reasons in the world to keep putting Sakura in these horrible situations...she couldn't understand why God would do this to her.

Sasuke's eyebrows raised interestedly as he took in the completely hilarious and yet awkward sight of Sakura straddling a shirtless Naruto in her miniskirt...in his living room...and while she was flustered and out of breath. Little did Sasuke know that was from yelling and tackling the knucklehead to the floor...but that thought never actually crossed his mind.

"Am I interrupting, loser?" His chill reply, though it was blatantly obvious he was hiding his amusement. His calm eyes rested on Naruto's distressed blue ones.

Sakura just stared up at him with startled eyes glazed over in discomposure while Naruto tilted his head back and scowled angrily at the raven haired senior. It would have been funny, if Naruto wasn't afraid of Sakura's coming wrath.

"_No_." Sakura heckled incredulously.

A couple blinks and a taunting tone.

"I didn't know _you _answered to loser."

Her jaw fell open and she felt the curses rising in her throat, but she suppressed them completely as she heard, or felt, Naruto sigh underneath her and noticed Sasuke turn his gaze to the blond.

_Oh gee...how could his smart ass attitude go so completely unnoticed? Oh yeah...it's hard to tell behind such a gorgeous face. I can't tell if I want him dead or alive._

"I didn't know you _called_." Naruto groaned while nobody in the room moved a muscle. Apparently he had forgotten his phone was up in his room, while he never bothered to remove it from his bag.

Sasuke blinked a couple of times sarcastically and turned his body to face the door.

_"Very_ obviously. I'll just let you two be-"

"No. _No_...I was just leaving," Sakura hurried to her feet and smoothed out her skirt while Naruto jumped up beside her as well and cleared his throat. The red on both their cheeks was appearing and Sasuke perked one eyebrow attentively, waiting for their explanations.

"Don't leave on my account." Sasuke replied calmly, his stoic facade overtaking his face. This irritated Sakura a bit, but she calmly shook her head as Naruto rested his hand on her shoulder roughly.

"Don't leave. I'll go make some tea or whatever and..." His voice trailed off as Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. She still had a score to settle with the incompetent fool, only now she was unsure if she wanted to do that in front of Sasuke.

"And...you're not off the hook that easily. Don't think I'll forgive you over some poor hospitality."

"Poor? Geez Sakura...you're mean. And you don't have to forgive me, because I'm not apologizing."

"Excuse me?"

"Hey, I'm not sorry."

Sasuke shut the door rather loudly catching the argueing teens' attention. He didn't care much about what they were argueing about...just that he really didn't want to hear it.

"Still here." He reminded them sharply.

Naruto nodded and gestured both of them to his living room. Sakura walked ahead of them huffily, totally unimpressed with Naruto and a bit uncomfortable hanging out with Sasuke on a weekend. It was just so cliche. While Naruto fell into step beside Sasuke a few feet behind Sakura, he instantly hissed at him angrily.

"_What _are you _here _for?"

"I came to talk to you..." Sasuke's low whisper died down even more as Sakura entered the kitchen and started to prepare the tea herself. Apparently she was already well acquainted with this kitchen. "...about her."

"Well too late _now_."

* * *

Both sat down around a small table in the middle of the kitchen and watched Sakura quietly and rather quickly prepare the tea. After she was done, she set it out on the table and sat down in between the two, silent for the most part as an hour passed of Naruto rambling on about random things and Sasuke every so often replying or commenting on a stupid crack the blond made. Before she even knew it, she was half indulged in their arguing and slightly enjoying it...her comfort level rising. Until she looked at the clock and decided she should head home and get some sleep if she even wanted to get up in the morning.

Amidst their argueing, Sakura stood up suddenly and both of them glanced at her.

"Well this was really..." Her eyes shifted to Sasuke and his bored visage, and then shifted back to Naruto and his cool expression. "...fun." She finished with a fake smile, taking a step away from the table and pushing the chair in. "But I should probably get home."

Naruto pouted a bit while Sasuke just sipped his tea, making Sakura feel completely unimportant. For some reason, she felt disappointed and neglected. But then again, why should she except him to pay any attention to her anyway? She was just a sophomore...just another girl majorly crushing on him.

_Whatever..._

"Well, okay. It's late so be careful walking." Naruto whimpered, secretly trying to guilt Sakura into wanting to stay longer, but she hadn't even caught his tone. Instead, she waved and made her way out of the kitchen, and as soon as she was out of sight and heading toward the door, Sasuke turned his head to make sure she was gone and then looked back at Naruto. Once he did, he noticed his pouting friend now staring at him suspiciously.

"Leave."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"You want me to walk her home." It wasn't a question.

"I do."

"No."

"Get out and go talk to her."

Sasuke opened his mouth to turn down Naruto's request, but he cut him off quickly.

"I _know _you want to." And Sasuke shut his jaw, glaring ferociously at his friend. "Don't you think it's funny how she ended up being here when you stopped by, completely uninvited, might I add. God, I mean, fate's totally on your side. Do it _now_."

Sasuke sighed and stood, all the while keeping his annoyed eyes on Naruto, until he turned and headed for the door. Feeling a tinge of satisfaction, Naruto watched him walk quickly out the door and into the living room. After he was out of sight he sighed and decided to give them a minute or two before he went spying to see if they headed home together.

* * *

Sasuke made his way hesitantly to the door.

_She must have just walked out._

Sasuke slipped on his shoes and opened the door quickly to see Sakura almost to the gates, turning her head to see who was coming out of the building. Her eyes widened queerly at the boy now staring at her calmly and shutting the door.

"I'll walk you home."

She had to admit, his offer startled her a bit and in all honesty, she would have loved to have him walk her home. Then they would get to know each other more, he would make her laugh, she would make him smile, they'd make it to her house and he'd suddenly kiss her goodbye and call her later that night to tell her he might be falling in love with her. Then the next day they'd see each other and start dating and all would be well.

"No thanks. It's really not too far. I'll be okay."

Okay...so then why did she reject his offer?

He continued to walk up to her slowly as she stopped and stared at him and his slightly hurt expression. Sasuke Uchiha must not get turned down often. Or at all.

"Suit yourself." His cool tone reached her as he walked past her, feeling her eyes on his back. She couldn't really decide yet if he was a gentlemen or just a boy pretending to be polite. Either way, he reached the gate and she started walking herself only to notice him stop and lean his back against large black pole. Keeping her eyes to the ground in front of her, she shuffled along, feeling his eyes tearing her apart questioningly. It was like he was examining her inch by inch, and it was a tad bit uncomfortable. It seemed they took turns staring at each other. All the while, she didn't understand why he had stopped walking in the first place...

Until she was just a step past him and she felt a firm and warm grip seize her right arm and gently pull her back to halt her. Instantly she tensed up and her head shot over to him with completely astounded and slightly frightened eyes. Never the less, she halted her movements, met his gaze, and calmed herself down as quickly as possible as, even though he never relased his grip, it loosened.

"Sasuke?" Her voice was slightly muffled on account of that fact that she really didn't know what to say.

He paused...fighting to find the words to let flow from his lips...until he had made up his mind.

"I need a favor."

Instantly her heart fluttered a bit, though she didn't understand why. A favor was a favor.

"Okay..." She purred the end of that a bit due to a strained feeling of shock. Though she felt nervous under his serevly intense and serious gaze, she fought to never let her eyes leave his.

He released his grip on her now and she turned to face him completely, feeling more at his level when she did that.

Though he knew for the most part what he wanted to ask her, the words fumbled around in his head, never quite forming at his lips. He only kept his piercing stare on her for a while until he started to notice her nervousness. The longer he kept her anticipating his question, the more anxious she became...and the more nervous he started to become himself.

With one deep breathe and a prayer she would accept, he finally let it roll off his tongue.

"I want you to be my inspiration."

That was it. Simple and sweet, down to the point. Yet, Sakura had to concentrate immensely to actually understand his request. What exactly did that mean?

"But why me?" Was all she could muster. She felt her heart beat throbbing in her chest and she secretly wondered if he could hear it. It rang through her ears desperate to tell her she needed to calm down. But try as she might, being this close with Sasuke and having a conversation like this with him only left her breathless.

And he was a bit stunned to hear her question, as he expected to her to be completely confused by his request. Not that she wasn't, she just didn't exactly get why she was of his interest.

"That's what we're going to find out." He finished calmly as she turned her head just slightly with intrigued eyes. Why did this conversation feel awkward and deep all at the same time?

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

It felt like her heart was going to burst through her frail chest.

"Inspiration." She repeated quietly, almost to herself, as his words actually dawned on her. This was the reaction he expected. It wasn't everyday somebody asked you an odd question like that.

He nodded once.

"I'll make a deal with you."

"I'm listening." She answered automatically, watching his body relax. This must have been an indication that the conversation was reaching the status of 'casual' and she could relax herself. So, her outside appearance did just that, though her mind was still spinning, blood still racing, and heart still sputtering inside her burning chest.

He ran his eyes over, taking in everything about her...her appearance, stance, facial expression, everything he could take from what he could see. Then, he met her eyes and continued.

"Don't ask what I mean. Just do. In return, I'll give you what I can offer."

A moment passed and they both said nothing, until Sakura took a step back and crossed her arms.

"Just do," She repeated, her soft voice reaching a curious monotone. "What do I need to do exactly?"

"Just what I tell you. I won't have you running errands or anything. I mean, when I want to see you...be available."

She swallowed hard.

_When he wants to see me?_

What exactly did that mean? Was this an Uchiha's awkward way of asking somebody out? Or was she totally getting ahead of herself?

Noticing her expression and starting to feel like he said the wrong things, he quickly spoke again.

"I'll just need to see you on some occasions so I can get some things done. Don't get ahead of yourself or anything."

A slightly rejected and disappointed sigh escaped through a small crack in her lips. It was like he could read her mind. Of course he didn't want to give her the false hope of a chance to date him or anything, but geez. Things could happen, right?

"What can you offer me?"

He looked off to the right, biting his lip just tenderly in thought, and then after a second, turned his dark, ominous eyes back to hers, sending a jolt through her spine.

"I'll think of something."

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief and he rolled his eyes, as if he knew his words weren't enough to satisfy her.

"Something worth your while." He finished, adding a bit of bite at the end. His eyes bore into hers impatiently. Like this wasn't hard enough asking her already. She could unknowingly prolong the agony.

Under the pressure, Sakura started to rock back and forth from her toes to her heels and back again, glancing off into any direction to avoid his ever present stare. Truth was, she felt like procrastinating because she didn't want to leave and go home anymore. Suddenly, she wanted to stay here by him. But she heard an annoyed groan deep in his throat and she turned back to him, building up her courage.

After all, if she agreed to his request...it sounded like she'd be seeing more of him, right? Though she didn't know exactly what 'being some body's inspiration' involved, she was willing to do it to spend more time with the gorgeous boy in front of her.

"Alright."

Sasuke blinked a couple of times, registering her approving tone. For the way she was procrastinating, he was almost sure she would have denied him.

After a tense moment of him staring at her dumbfounded, she uncrossed her thin arms and waved one in front of his face, instantly sending him into awareness...or more so, annoyance, as he slapped her arm down and groaned.

She glared up at him, mustering any type of anger she could, though it was pointless. She pulled her arm back from his grasp and he did the same.

"I'll do whatever you need, I guess. Something to pass the time." She muttered sweetly, the corner of her lips raising just slightly as she found glaring at him was almost impossible.

He put his hands into his pocket and gave her a slightly amused face as he noticed her trying to play it cool.

"Right. Well, you should probably head home now." He nodded his head up gently indicating her to take her leave and her eye instantly started twitching. Something about him just seemed so rude and arrogant. But she could live with that.

She turned her body, flipping her hair in the most obnoxious way she could to hopefully appear better than him, only to succeed in letting her kiwi shampoo scent reach his nose and make him shiver. After a few steps out the gate, she paused and looked back at him, eyes wide, innocent look in place.

"Does you're offer of walking me home still stand?"

He raised both eyebrows interestedly, hesitated, as if considering it, and then let out a deep breath, smirking just slightly. In the dim light overcasting him, his dark and intimidating, yet mysterious side took over, making Sakura's heart jump into her throat once more when he smirked.

"No." He purred, almost seductively

Sakura flinched, rolled her eyes, and quickly fell back into step, afraid he'd sense her giddy reaction.

The streets were dark, but nothing could kill her mood now. It was strange how she felt so light on her feet and secure in her step.

* * *

She had reached her home in reasonable time, said goodnight to her mother, showered, and was now placing the earphones to her ears, sprawling herself out on her bed.

It was later now, but no sign of fatigue had hit her yet, more than likely due to earlier events. She squirmed a bit in her warm fleece sweatpants, tugging at the straps of her tank top. The music began blaring in her ears, drowning out every thought but one.

_"I want you to be my inspiration."_

She shivered and quickly hustled under the covers, allowing her long, wet hair to stick to her arms and pillow. Turning on her side, she grabbed a pillow from the top of her bed and held it tightly to her chest, bringing her legs up and seizing it firmly. Her heart was still fluttering, curious and anxious to find out what type of 'inspiration' she would become.

She let the melody from her iPod swirl in her head as she mouthed the lyrics silently. A smile drifted across her face and she let her eyelids close, leaving her to form images of earlier.

She continued to roam through her thoughts until she found herself weighing heavily into a deep slumber, dreamless and peaceful.

* * *

_Next Chapter_

_Guilt By Association_


	5. Guilt By Association

**-**

**Chapter Five:  
****  
**_Guilt By Association_

-

_"Am I crazy, all falling in love? Is it really just another crush?"_

-

* * *

She tapped her foot gently to the rhythm of the beat in her ears. It had been so long since she had listened to music like this and she couldn't pull the earphones from her ears...

Even while she sat in class.

But in truth, Sakura was pretty good about hiding them, letting her long pink hair shadow the sides of her face and cover whatever evidence she had of her lightly playing music. In between class she'd turn up the volume and lose herself as she wandered the hallways slowly to her next class, and once she was seated and the teacher began the lecture, she'd tune it down to a dull roar that only she could hear.

It was perfect.

She was sitting in biology, a rather large class thankfully so that no individual attention was likely to be drawn to her. In front of her was Ino, who was also ignoring Anko-sensei like Sakura, only doing so by doodling all over her notebook with illegible words that seemed to be quotes she had probably memorized.

In ten minutes, the bell would ring and Sakura would be on her way to creative writing. For some reason, she was dreading it, but yet extremely anxious. Oddly, though, she hadn't even caught a glimpse of Sasuke or Naruto around school at all, so she couldn't help feeling a shallow pit of fright in her stomach as she considered how they both had probably skipped school today.

Suddenly, being pulled from her thoughts, Sakura felt something tug at her earphone cords that were resting against her chest very neatly, and she glanced up to see Ino turned around, trying to get her attention. After a quick scan of the room, she noticed Anko had left the class with a couple minutes of free time to gossip about the latest unimportant scandals. Carefully and inconspicuously, Sakura pushed against her cleavage, where she had hid her tiny ipod. The music stopped abruptly, making Sakura shiver.

It was like her drug.

"It's been a while since you've carried that thing everywhere. Something good must have happened."

Sakura shrugged, letting her eyes move from Ino's. Something about the suspicious and sly smirk her friend was giving her made her want to cringe.

"Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell."

"You lie."

Sakura rolled her eyes and scratched the tip of her nose gently with her index finger while Ino sighed heavily. She slouched a bit in her seat.

"Didn't your mom take that away once because it became permanently attached to your head for like, oh, four weeks?" Her tone was disappointed, and her words just induced Sakura to nod.

That was true. And that had been a very hard period for her. Who honestly does that?! It's like taking the air away from a human with asthma who just ran a marathon and a half.

Ino glowered. "What are you going to do if you-"

"Get caught?"

Both their heads shot up as Anko took two big steps toward them, standing right in front of Ino's desk. Her stare wasn't exactly angry, just bored, like she didn't feel like dealing with any problems. Sakura only stared at her with wide eyes, curious as to if she'd be punished or if her drug would be taken from her.

"I'm...sorry?" Sakura spoke it almost like a question, tilting her head to the side in hopes that that was what Anko wanted to hear. Anko just sighed irritably and nodded her head towards the door.

"Put it away or I'll take it away. I don't feel like lecturing you on responsibility today, Sakura."

Sakura's eyes looked crushed and she stood slowly. There was really only ten minutes left of class...couldn't she just wait to put it away after the bell rang?

"Now." Anko groaned as she made her way behind her desk to sit down roughly.

Sakura exhaled sharply and stomped out of the room, feeling Ino's smug gaze on her back.

_Damn...of all the times to get caught. How lame._

She trudged slowly through the hall. Her locker was a good length from the biology room, which made this a real pain. While she made her way dreadfully down the hallway, realization dawned on her that Sasuke was definitely not going to be in class. Even on a regular day she would spot him at least twice, not including the last period of the day. But she hadn't seen him at all. And this was a major, _major _let down. Honestly, it was like her mind had subconsciously been in denial, hoping he'd be in class. That was her anxiety. She wanted to see him. But that was clearly not happening.

Not only was her drug being stolen...now her air was being sucked dry, _too_!

Instantly, she pressed around her shirt to turn the volume up to max.

_What cruel human beings...to do this to me..._

What insensitive people! Anko, stealing her sanity...and Sasuke, stealing her heart! How could this day get any--!

Mid-pouting, Sakura found herself stopped, and noticed an arm outstretched over her head, slightly sloping down. The pale hand was holding a folded piece of white paper between the index finger and thumb. The urge to look behind her was too small compared to the annoyance she felt at the stranger that was interrupting her inner bitching. Huffily, yet gracefully and curious, she raised a hand to receive the paper, and brought it down to chest level, unfolding it quietly. She was pretty sure the music was loud enough to be heard across the hallway, so her stranger must know she didn't care much to hear him or her.

Once the paper was open and the fine, neat lettering was read, Sakura hit her hand roughly to her chest to stop the music and groaned, right before her breath cut off to leave her helpless.

This feeling was like drowning. Only sweet and desirable in a sick unfamiliar way.

"I know you don't need the address, but keep that."

The harmonious tone of his voice gave her chills and she swiftly turned on her feet to face him. The moment was so bright, so powerful, so entrancing, that she was almost sure it was his cooing that spun her around so quickly. Like gravity. And the moth to the flame.

Sasuke, in all his beauty and oblivious outstanding attraction, towered over Sakura's fragile frame, a tiny pout on his full, pale lips.

"Someday you may need it, though I'm sure you know the address perfectly well." His mocking tone surfaced, along with a breathtaking, yet small, smirk.

Sakura's eyebrows pulled together in discomfort.

"Why do I need your address?" Her sharp tone cut through her lips like razor blades, hiding her unbearable giddiness perfectly. Even though her music was gone, his voice served well in its' place.

"So you don't get lost, clearly."

He stated it like it was such an obvious answer, and she was such an incompetent teen.

All of a sudden, the giddiness and relief of seeing him was disappearing. Funny how he could dismember her mood so quickly.

"Lost?" She spat incredulously and his smirk vanished, a bored stare taking its place on his pale complexion. "Why would I come _over_?"

He let out a disgruntled sigh and perked an eyebrow.

"Our deal. Don't tell me you've forget already."

Sakura pursed her lips.

"I haven't. But you haven't told me what's in it for me yet. Of course, you have something in mind." She tilted her head just slightly and his smirk returned, lifting her spirits.

"Do I?" His lighter tone made her fingers go numb. She shrugged in response and he chuckled silently. "Of course." He nodded his head behind Sakura, who now chewed on her lip quizzically.

It took her a moment to register any body movement, but she slowly turned her head, her eyes piercing down the hallway like a lion's glower. Instantly, she connected eyes with a junior girl at the end of the hallway. Maybe it was the slight scowl, or the wide eyes that were imprinted on Sakura's face that made the girl jump, blush, and scurry away to class for the last five minutes, but Sakura realized instantly that the girl must have already come up with some creative conclusion as to why Sakura was talking to Sasuke alone in the middle of school.

Hearing a musical escape of breath leave his lips behind her, Sakura turned around and glared at him, green eyes burning with anticipation.

"I'm clueless. A hint?"

His smirk grew. "Certainly." He raised his hand and pointed his index finger right past her head. The mere proximity made her cheek burn. "Take ten steps that way. Don't turn around until I tell you to."

Her eyes narrowed but she obeyed quietly, turned around swiftly and walking, toe to heel down the desolate hallway. She had to admit, his eyes on her back made her nervous, but left her with a strange feeling of importance and satisfaction as well.

And maybe he had timed or planned this, she didn't know, but the bell rang just three seconds after she had stopped, and five seconds after that, when the doors opened and filled the hallways with bustling students, his lovely voice reached her.

"So, I'll give you a lift after class."

But that notion never even crossed her mind as she started to notice the bugged out eyes on her every movement. Well, not exactly hers...

Sasuke's.

It was like her senses suddenly peaked, and she could hear worried and girly whispers, squeals and gasps escape from all the girls watching her and Sasuke talking together across the crowded hallway.

Like _such good friends_.

She cringed softly and spun around to glare at him.

_Death _glare, precisely.

So this was his trade. Sharing his magnificent popularity with her, in order to get her to cooperate with his needs. All eyes on her, whispers and rumors...all the boys taking notice...all the girls being jealous. This was his gift to her.

_Do I want this?_

She sighed, frustrated with his foolish actions. But when she blinked a couple times to try and pretend the stares were only in her imagination, she seen him turned around, taking slow steps away from her.

She wasn't sure how or why...but her feet were instantly moving through the people in the hallway, maneuvering through them perfectly somehow...which was awkward because she was usually so clumsy. Her warm hand caught the back of his uniform and he glanced over his shoulder at her, his annoyed, bored stare back in place.

_Go figure._

"Where are you _going_?" She hissed venomously.

His body never budged, but his eyes glassed over with amusement though he was careful to keep his calm composure.

"Leaving."

Sakura ground her teeth together in anger, though really, it was disappointment that was bubbling inside her.

"We have class."

"I'm not going."

"And why not?"

"Things to do."

"You lie."

"You're right. I just don't feel like it."

Her hand slipped off the back of his shirt and he turned to walk away, taking long strides through the now dissipating hoards of people gawking at them.

"Front doors after school." He raised his hand in a farewell and spoke in an icy tone to her as he made his way farther and farther from her grasp. Her throat burned as she held back the swear words she so desperately wanted to shout at him. Where the hell was he going anyway?

After a moment, Sakura sighed and groaned, falling into step with the crowd to make her way to the next class...

Sadly, lacking the motivation at all to even be here without him near her.

* * *

He stared up at the clouds momentarily, not being able to enjoy a single minute of the silence he shared with Naruto. Both boys were laying on the rooftop of the school, hands behind their heads, relaxing and skipping class as usual. But for some reason, an awkward and slight nervousness had found its way into Sasuke's head, leaving him annoyed and tormented at the same time.

"Maybe you should go to class." Naruto muttered through half closed lips. Sasuke turned his head slightly to glare at the blond, who's eyes were lazily closed. He then glanced back up at the clouds and a strange growl resided in his throat. Why did Naruto always notice the smallest things about him? It was rather annoying.

"What good would that do?"

"Don't know. Say, you ever wonder what it's like for all the other students, though?"

A moment of thought passed.

"I don't get what you mean." Sasuke groaned, irritated by Naruto's nonsense conversation.

"I mean...they all have a reason to go to class. Or a motivation, at the least. Why don't we?"

Sasuke sighed and turned his head to the side, eyeing the blond seriously, with a slight hint of agitation still present. Naruto kept his head facing the sky as his eyes drifted open, the bright blue gleaming with the suns' rays.

"Maybe we should try going to class faithfully." Naruto murmured gently.

A quiet 'che' left Sasuke's lips and he furrowed his eyebrows as he turned his gaze back to the clouds and snapped his eyes shut. "Nobody makes you skip with me."

"No, but it's so inviting."

"Then why are you complaining?"

"I'm only stating a theory. Calm down."

Sasuke bit down on his tongue as the uneasiness in his stomach jumped up to higher levels than tolerable. He instantly sat up and Naruto's eyes followed, wide and curious.

"Then let's go to class." He groaned, the corner of his twitching eye.

Naruto sat up and perked an eyebrow at the raven haired boy. "You _want _to go to class?"

Sasuke's facial expression relaxed and slowly he ran over all the reasons why, suddenly, he _did _want to go to class. Was this the uneasiness he was feeling? Had the bell rang already? Could he make it...

Naruto sighed. "Well, I guess it could impress Sakura if we both did-"

_Sakura._

Before Naruto could finish that thought, and before Sasuke could fully grasp the concept that he was now bolting through the doors and down the steps to class, he was slowly considering the fact that he _did _have a reason to go to class...

Sakura.

Maybe, it would be a good time to watch her...memorize her expressions and body language. Her personality.

All the things he needed from her. All the inspiration he needed from her.

So then, his wild running to class wasn't such a foolish and random act. He was suppose to be there anyway.

And he repeated those words to himself constantly as his feet carried him swiftly through the halls.

As he reached his arms out in front of him and hit the door, jerking it open, he came to a random stop just a few feet into the class room, instantly slouching over to rest his hands on his knees. He had caught the shocked stares from the students in a blur until his head was facing the cold, pale grey tile floor. He was panting, but not because he was tired. So why was it? He could have ran three more miles and then some and still be able to make it a little further.

"Ah, so you finally decided to join us."

Kurenai's cool tone reached his ears, along with a screeching stop after hard footsteps right beside him. So Naruto had followed.

Naruto, due to fatigue, slouched over as Sasuke straightened his back, but he heard the blonde's hushed and muffled words.

"Dude, why did you _do _that?"

Kurenai gestured to the empty desks in the middle of the room and pursed her lips. "Because you actually made an effort, I'll spare you the tardy. Now, unless you want to recite a speech, I suggest you find your desks."

And both of them scurried to their seats. Sasuke fell into his desk rather roughly, and as he did, he heard the faint angelic whisper of the reason he was there.

"What changed you're mind?"

He glanced over his shoulder at Sakura, her silky hair spilled over her slender shoulder, eyes burning with a hunger for something...something he was curious about. His eyes then connected with the cord slightly visible by her chest and he resisted the urge to smirk.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Her eyes narrowed as his smirk broke free, and he swiftly leaned over and snatched one of her pencils from the side of her desk, hearing her gasp in turn. He faced forward and whispered quietly, sending her body into shock.

"Consider this my gift to you."

And then she noticed all the girls...and all the eyes on her. All the attention he was indirectly giving her. How silly...but still, all eyes on her.

Maybe she could get used to this.

* * *

"You can't honestly been serious."

"I am."

"I can just walk."

"I'm sure you can."

She struggled to keep her tone cool as Sasuke led the way through the parking lot. He hadn't explained what type of vehicle he drove or anything...just that it would be fast and furious. And instantly, she had changed her mind and really been hoping he'd just let her walk to his house.

"So just let me meet you there." She pushed eagerly, hoping he'd break. But he only shot her a dirty glare over his shoulder and shook his head. She huffed and stomped her feet, all the while taking note of all the envious eyes glued on her and her 'new friend'.

"Sasuke." She hissed furiously, hearing him sigh in a very, very agitated way.

"Sakura."

"Where's your _car_?"

"Right here."

She turned her head to the right, just _now _noticing the big, shiny, very expensive looking motorcycle that _screamed _dangerous in so many ways. But wow, did it look like it cost a fortune. It made other motorcycles look like tricycles. Sasuke shuffled over to the bike and hopped on gracefully. Now she understood why he never had a bag or backpack or anything of the sort. There was definitely room for her on the back of that bike...but she was _not _getting on it.

"That's _not _a car."

Sasuke turned his head to her, keeping a patient look planted on his face, but Sakura could tell it was the flakiest expression he had given her yet.

"I'm not waiting forever." He muttered, slouching forward a bit.

"I'm not riding that...ever."

He perked an eyebrow. "Are you _trying _to be difficult?"

"It comes naturally, I think. Are you trying to be funny? It's not quite working."

He sighed and leaned forward more, resting his forehead gently on the top of the black panel with all the colorful and frightful buttons that could bring that ferocious baby to life. And as he did this, Sakura noticed he loved to sigh. Or maybe she just brought out the worst in him.

"Look, I agreed to be your..." surprisingly, she stuggled with the odd word, "...inspirtation...or whatever. I never agreed to doing something dangerous."

Sasuke's head lifted toward her and he instantly stole her breath with a beautiful, taunting smirk.

_I wonder if he knows he's doing that...thief!!_

"Who said you didn't?"

Goosebumps shot across her skin like a wild fire in a forest and she shivered fiercely. This didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke, who turned his head in the opposite direction of Sakura and snickered quietly. A flush flew across her rosy cheeks and she was actually a bit appreciative he looked the other way. Maybe they both didn't want the other to see their vulnerabilities.

Once she had gathered herself and rested her gaze on his eyes again, she noticed him now peering at her seriously.

"I'll go slow. Promise."

Both her eyes narrowed. Was he joking?

"You're not seriously going to make me ride that." It wasn't so much a question. She knew the answer.

He nodded, a very small smile on his face. "I'm _seriously _going to make you ride this."

Next thing she knew, she was on the back of the bike, holding on to the bars behind her for dear life. Suddenly, the bike was roaring and she was cringing, praying internally that he would honor his promise. After the bike was in slow, slow motion... she heard him call back to her.

"You _can _hold on to me."

She could tell he was smirking, and there was really no seriousness in his tone. She should have taken his offer and squeezed him until he couldn't breathe.

"I'm sure I _can_." She fumed, repeating the words he had spoken to her just moments earlier.

She heard him let out one inharmonious laugh, and then she closed her eyes tightly until the ride was over and she could be back on her own two feet.

* * *

He had kept his promise and gone very slow for her, but she could feel the irritation and impatience radiate off his body the entire time. Half the time she wanted to slap him on the back when he would suddenly speed up or hit the breaks. But they had made it to his home in one piece, and now he was escorting her up the stairs to his room. It felt a bit slow motion and yet, it ended all too fast. Really, when somebody lived in a house by themselves...did they actually need a room? Or actually, if that were to be better worded, did she honestly need to go to his room? Couldn't she do her 'inspiration-ing' in the living room?! It was a lot less suggestive!

Then again, she only wished.

"Here. Sit there."

Coming back to reality, she realized he had placed a black wheely chair right behind her in the middle of his very neat room, and he was now sitting on his decent sized bed right across from her with the sketchbook from last time in his hands. She slowly folded herself onto the chair and examined his room. No posters, no decorations...just light blue walls, light grey carpet, a wooden desk to her right, the closed door on her left, the made bed in front of her, a big dresser behind her...a tiny window right above the desk with the light blue curtains closed...

"Will you please _relax_."

She realized then that her body was tense, and to him, it must have seemed like she felt increasingly uncomfortable because her eyes were everywhere but on him.

Her green eyes shot back to him and she glared intently. But he only rolled his eyes and propped the sketchbook up so she could no longer see his gorgeous face. Then, she exhaled deeply and sat completely still, realizing that as being his 'inspirtation'...she just needed to let him sketch her. Obviously. Really quite simple.

Silence.

Complete silence. Enough to drive her mad, actually.

It felt like two hours had passed, but in all truth, it had only been a half hour. And she was beginning to get stiff.

She kept getting lost in thought, majorly curious as to how in just a few weeks she went from not knowing this boy...to being in his room, letting him expose her every flaw on paper.

She heard him sigh and focused her eyes on him as he rested the sketchbook on the bed to his left and leaned his head back against the wall. His calm look appeared patient, but his eyes looked quite the opposite..

"Okay, what?" He exhaled.

Her eyebrows raised incredulously.

"Excuse me?" She asked softly, noticing him tilt his head just slightly against the wall.

"Why do your eyes look so glazed over, and why do you look so completely out of it?"

_Haa! Wow...was it that obvious? _She sighed internally.

"Sorry. Guess I was _sitting still _the wrong way." She muttered sarcastically under her breath, not loud enough for him to make out what she had said.

He brought both his knees up, not quite to his chest, and his eyes narrowed just slightly.

"You don't wanna be here?" He questioned sharply, earning a very disbelieving stare from Sakura.

"That's not it." She answered quickly. And he had no idea how true that was. This was what she wanted most.

He just held her stare patiently as if he were waiting for her to continue, but before she could speak again, he was up, off the bed, standing in front of the desk. He grabbed a deck of cards off the top and turned to face her. Her eyes were wide, suddenly curious as to why he stopped doing whatever he was doing.

"Move the chair." He demanded and he sat on his knees and started shuffling the cards. They looked almost new, shiny and tinted a pale orange with circles painted all over them.

She obeyed quietly and sat on her knee's across from him, letting her pink hair cover her back and shoulders. She kicked the chair back gently so she had a bit more room.

"We're playing card games." She mumbled in a monotone voice, earning a strange glare from Sasuke. She pursed her lips and ran her slender fingers through her silky locks.

"Better than sitting around. You looked like you were daydreaming about falling in love. I didn't know I bored you to such extremes."

His tone sounded so unbelievably mocking that she had to bite her lip to stop from huffing and pouting like a little girl.

"You say that like...like it's so..." She choked on the fiery words in throat.

He looked up at her through his long dark lashes and her chest started aching.

"Like it's so incredibly ridiculous?" He asked softly, a tiny smirk forming on his pale lips.

She swallowed hard and nodded.

"Well it is, isn't it? Like your fairy tales." He started again, this time handing the cards to her. She snatched them and started shuffling herself.

An angry growl escaped her lips. "Like you're attitude." She snapped with as much anger as possible.

He chuckled and after a moment, sat up completely straight. After she had shuffled through them a bit, she held them out to Sasuke but he grabbed her hand and pushed them back to her.

"Remove two cards." He commanded quietly while she blinked in response.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

She did so, taking two random cards from the pile.

"Can I look at them?"

"No." He grabbed the deck from her now and gestured his hands to the side. "Put them over there."

She obeyed, and he dealt the deck until they each had half. Sakura tapped her finger on her cards and perked an eyebrow at him.

"Do I look?" She asked.

"No."

She moaned quietly, not so interested in playing stupid card games. Sasuke noticed this and snapped his fingers to get her attention, earning an annoyed stare from the girl across from him.

"We each lay down a card, one at a time. The number on the card is the number of points you get. Jacks and ace's are 1 point. King's and queen's are nothing. Every heart you lay down, though, is minus one point. But if you lay down the king of hearts or the queen of hearts, you win. You're score can go into the negatives. Keep track in you're head."

She followed carefully and once he was done explaining, she nodded, still keeping her bored expression in place.

"Um, what game is this?"

He smirked.

"My game."

She stopped breathing.

_Oh, gee...there goes my breath. One of these days I _have _to tell him to stop doing that._

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a quarter.

"Call it in the air."

He flipped it.

"Uh, heads."

It landed on the carpet on tails, he pushed it aside, and before Sakura had a second to even pretend to be disappointed, he had already laid down his first card. A three of diamonds.

She glanced up at him. "So you have three points?"

He nodded, and she grabbed the first card off the top of her deck and laid it over his card. A five of hearts.

"Oh, damn. Negative five points?" Her monotone question. With a slight chuckle he nodded and laid another card.

After ten minutes of laying their cards, Sakura had 17 points and Sasuke had 32. Talk about dumb luck. Or a dumb game... She couldn't decide.

He laid down his last card. A ten of hearts.

A small giggle came from Sakura as he rolled his eyes. Carefully, she laid her last card over his and smirked triumphantly. A seven of spades.

"Looks like I beat you at your own game." She pointed her finger at him and stuck out her tongue, while he only smirked at her in reply. For some reason, that bothered her.

"Not quite." He muttered, picking up the shiny cards. And right away, she understood what he meant. During the game she had been paying careful attention to all the cards they had laid, and nobody had won automatically. Which means...

"You're right. Where are the king and queen of hearts?" Her eyes narrowed quizzically.

His smirk faded and he turned his eyes to the two cards lying on the side. Her gaze followed, and she felt an awkward, indescribable feeling. Before the game had started, they had both shuffled the cards, thus no cheating could be done, and she had pulled two cards out at random. Complete random.

There was _no way_ she could have pulled out both the king and queen of hearts. That just seemed irrational.

She reached for them, held her breathe, and flipped them over in between her and Sasuke.

Sure enough, the king and queen of hearts.

She looked up, through her long eyelashes, at him with disbelieving eyes. Suddenly, for some reason, her throat started burning and she released her held breathe.

"There's no way." She muttered softly.

And the thing that bothered her the most...was that he was now _smirking_. _Smirking _at her confusion!!

"There obviously is." He glanced at the cards and back at her. "So nobody wins."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she ran over the rules in her head...and sure enough, he was right. Which she hated. He had clearly stated in the rules, if going by literal terms, that 'if you lay down the king of hearts or the queen of hearts, you win.' There was no 'automatically'. She just assumed that. Which was sooooooo incredibly stupid. But whatever. So, how in the world did this happen. A creepy coincidence?

She pursed her lips. "Tell me how you did it."

He let out a short, satisfied laugh. "I didn't. You did, clearly. And you just proved me right."

She groaned. "Explain."

He pointed to the cards lying face up on his dull carpet and her gaze followed. "The hearts. What do hearts represent?"

His intonation was so smooth and casual, it almost provoked Sakura to the point where she could flick him right in the forehead. But nonetheless, she answered his obvious and unimportant question.

"Love."

"And the king and queen?"

"Boy and girl?"

He paused, and after a few seconds, Sakura looked up from the cards to see him sneering at her with cocky eyes that made her stomach flip and turn. Angry with herself for letting him have this effect on her, a loud, unsatisfied 'che' left her mouth and she scowled at him.

"You're point?"

"It doesn't exist."

She shook her head roughly, still not quite understanding his screwed up logic. "What, _exactly_, are you talking about?"

His beautiful, confident grin vanished and was replaced with a disappointed glower of his own. "You'd think your small mind would get lonely behind your big forehead."

Wow. She was losing it.

"Sasuke." She growled firmly.

He continued. "Use your 'deep thinking' skills. The deck. Compare it to life. The king and queen of hearts? That's your love and little fairy tales. It's not there. Not in the deck. It doesn't exist. And you were the one who proved me right. There was no way to rig it, so call it fate, or whatever you want to."

It clicked in her head, slowly, but surely. She could see his messed up logic clearly, still not agreeing. But undoubtedly, she was still baffled by how that turned out. So then, putting everything else together...each heart was suppose to represent one point missing...as in, like, getting hurt or something. And there were negatives points, because that could represent hate. No points at all was just like a happy medium. And nobody could win because the cards needed to win weren't in the deck...or so...nobody can fall in love because there's no such thing as love in life.

Her eyes glazed over and she smiled gently, picking up the deck and the other two cards. She flipped them over so the orange circles were face up, and she scattered them on the carpet in between them quickly. Sasuke watched with curious eyes as there was a messy pile of cards in between them. Her hand flew over them, mixing them up over and over again until she stopped and met his gaze, leaving him with a strange, inquisitive expression.

"Pick two cards." She whispered tenderly, making his throat tighten. Both his eyebrows raised.

"You can't be serious."

One corner of her pink lips raised. "You have no idea."

They stared at each other for a few more seconds and then he turned his wide eyes to the pile in front of him. He reached out and snatched two cards completely at random, leaving them face down so he couldn't see. He then handed one to Sakura, who took it slowly, not looking at it either.

"If you're going to insist on this I'll be happy to let you help prove yourself wrong again." He muttered.

Sakura rolled her eyes. What a confident jerk. "I'll bet we have the king and queen of hearts and if I'm right, then I think its fair to say fairy tales exist. Don't you?"

He smiled at her crookedly. "Sakura, there was 52 cards on the floor. Do you know the chances of us holding the king and queen of hearts?"

She nodded. He sighed gently, and flipped his card up to look at it. Sakura couldn't see it yet, but by the expression on his face, she was more than right. His eyes glittered with pure rarity as his ashy lips parted just slightly. She prayed he now knew what it was like to have your breath stolen from you. Then he dropped his card onto the top of the unorganized pile on the floor. Landing face up, it revealed the queen of hearts.

Oh, sweet, sweet satisfaction.

He then looked up at her, waiting for her to flip the card. She noticed his eye twitch, realizing his impatience, and she turned the card over, so only he could see what it was. Once again, the way his eyes widened and lips parted even more, made her smile a breathtakingly winsome smile.

"King and queen of hearts." He whispered under his breathe.

"See, it just depends. In my world, it's there. So, look at it this way. I have the power to remove it and you have the power to find it. Only thing is, I don't _want _to remove it and you don't _want _to find it." She shook the king of hearts just a bit and her beautiful, showy smile faded to a tamed smirk. "Since you gave me the king of hearts, maybe it's like you gave me your heart."

His chest tightened tremendously.

Her eyes flickered to the queen of hearts on the floor. "And you kept mine." She whispered seductively, completely amused with his stare. She felt like doing anything to keep his complete and utter attention on her.

But he felt a surge of something he never felt before. Not with Sakura. And it scared him because he had no idea what it was...or suddenly, why he was feeling this way.

Her high pitched giggle pulled him back to reality and he did his best to scowl at her. Though it didn't work. With the way he was watching her so seriously, it took all she had to keep herself composed. But she flipped her hair over her shoulder leaving a few strands to fall back to the side of her face, leaned forward onto her right hand, tilted her chin down a little, and let a soft and slow breath escape her lips.

She felt in control, if only for this moment. Why not be a little adventurous?

And these actions were carefully taken in by a now speechless Sasuke.

"Geez. Don't fall for me." Her lips caressed the words playfully and Sasuke just now realized how strikingly beautiful she really was. In her own, antagonizing way.

But she was foolish to think Sasuke was ever _not _in control.

His ashen, tempting lips formed a most voluptuous smirk that if Sakura hadn't frozen completely, she might have taken him right then and there.

"Don't push me." His soft, enticing voice.

So, one could definitely assume these two were out to get each other. One would have to break the other. It was bound to happen.

After a moment of staggered breathing from each other, a sudden thump, almost like a bang, or a door closing, came from the downstairs, making Sakura jump while Sasuke calmly turned his gaze to the closed wooden door. But she was helplessly glued to his eyes. She was also stricken with an intense feeling, stronger than any desire she had possessed for him before. Slowly, she clenched and unclenched her fist to keep herself grounded.

A faint series of thumps now came from down the hall a bit. Footsteps. He must be coming up the stairs.

"Hey, bastard! You here?"

_Naruto._

Sakura suppressed a disappointed sigh and closed her eyes as she heard a faint, suspicious chuckle come from Sasuke. Her eyes fluttered open then to see him leaning forward toward her, resting on his outstretched left arm. She froze as he closed the proximity between them, reaching his right arm up toward her. Her shallow breathing increased as his long, pale fingers caught the few strands of hair by the side of her face and brought them back as he snaked his hand through her soft hair. It took all she had to keep her heart beating in her chest when his face came within an inch of hers.

"W-what are..." It was like she forgot how to speak in the instant he destroyed her sanity.

The corner of his lips slid up and he parted his lips, allowing his breath to fan across her face. She wasn't quite sure, but somehow in those few seconds, she caught the sound of the footsteps right outside the door.

"Just don't quit breathing on me." He whispered mockingly. She shivered involuntarily.

He was now just noticing the effect her had on her, and was very pleased he could steal her breathe away so efficiently.

But the wheels started turning in her mind...as Naruto opened the door and halted, face turning bright red, mouth drawing into a tight line, eyes bulging...

And to Sakura's horror...Ino popped around his side to peek. Her bright grin instantly turned to an awed mouth-dropping stare, with eyes that could swallow the world.

A little joke to see the humorous awe on Naruto's childish face.

With Sasuke just an inch from her face, it looked as though he was about to kiss her. Like such a passionate scene.

And the pink flooding Sakura's cheeks only increased the reality of it all.

It took everything in her not to close the space between them.

* * *

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